Dusk Til Dawn
by booth258
Summary: This is more than just a crossover between Btvs and Angel. It crosses over with a bunch of my favorite shows including 7th heaven, Bones, Supernatural, Smallville, etc. The world and all of the people in it are put in danger when people acrossed the world begin to have paralyzing physcally linked nightmares and plague begins ushering in the end of days.
1. Chapter 1

Ch.1 Haunted Land of Nightmares

#1

The last thing she remembered before she d slipped away within the dark oblvion of dreams and nightmares was kissing her little boy goodnight..Loving her husband. and her hopes and dreams for the future. None of them really had fears of anything anymore as the world changed into a perfect painted picture..A picture that any mother would want to raise a child in..But that night when she went to bed she had not realized just how wrong she was and just what was out there lurking in the dark..Just how evil the darkness could really be when you forgot about it.

It hadn t taken her long to fall into dreams and nightmares and leave life and living behind and then her fate wasn t up to her or the world anymore-It was up to him-Who he was, Well that was the big mystery. The mystery in which changed her belief in utopia and made her believe that a perfect world , had been a complete lie and something had been there all along..Lurking..Watching. But would anybody believe her..This did sound like Crazy talk.

It was almost as if she hadn t been dreaming at all. As if she d stepped out her back door and had taken a little walk but what she saw wasn t anywhere near her house and that s when she realized it was a dream..But was it? Was it just a dream or a nightmare or was it much, much more than that,even.

When she was young she used to be petrified of the forest. Had believed it was dark and haunted..and yes, evil. And what was right in front of her now? The most mysterious, Haunting forest she d ever seen in her entire life..it seemed to sprawl out around her, Trapping her,somehow in the darkest hour of the darkest nightmare she d ever had in her life. Silvery moonlight poured down on the forest making it appear to be a scene from a horror movie...All of the branches seemed to bend together..Some formed arks while others under the light of the moon appeared to be alive,somehow. she knew they weren t but a part of her on the inside whispered in fear.. Could she be wrong about that? , She didn t know. All she knew was what she felt. She wanted to runaway and hide from the forest which seemed to pull her in against her will..Pull her into a terrifying scene from the most horrifying horror film ever put to film and even though she wanted to run; To hide. She felt herself being pulled, Dragged into the forest as the forest became closer until she was inside it and the world that had existed before had seemed to dissapear. Not just that but she d seemed to once she d been taken in by the dark forest forget about this being a nightmare..Now she didn t know if it was real or if it wasn t. This felt real..She thought. So the memory of the nightmare fell away from her and all she was left with was an incessant urge to escape..To get out before it was too late. It wasn t just the forest or the haunting, Glow of the moon which warned that something wasn t right here..It was her own intuition telling her that this was a bad place and she was in grave danger. That feeling alone made her walk even faster as she was able to realize that whether it was a nightmare or not..Maybe she was in danger no matter what and she had to get away from this. She had to escape.

So she moved faster. Through the tree branches which had been binded together to form archways..she tried to avoid them as much as she could for fear that the branches would reach out to grab her..Not like branches at all..But like Claws. She couldn t even believe she d think such a thing. She was a young woman..Not a little girl. These were the things her little boy feared..the things she told her son that didn t exist..Just children s games. and Now what was she doing? She was doing the same exact thing that she d convinced her son didn t exist. But in this world..Wherever she was she had doubts on whether they didn t exist or not. This fear..This evil..It was real. Maybe it made her seem crazy but in the dark of night under that hateful moon and in this evil forest, She believed every word..Every thought that made her believe..She wasn t safe here.

Taking deep breaths, She tried to calm herself down..Even as she heard the howling and soft, Night mournings of wild animals. She heard the howling cries of a wolf..Maybe even a Coyote off in the distance of the forest-She could see as plane as day as a snow Owl took it s Purch on a high branch making it s soft mourning calls as obvious as the night it s self..All of this made her walk even faster. Even though the snow owl was beautiful and seemed harmless. But somewhere in the distance was a wolf and wolves were mean and if there were wolves there had to be other wild animals as well. She knew one thing and that was that even if she was crazy she knew one thing for certain. In a natural setting with wild animals as these she was still in danger and she didn t need to be of sane mind to understand that. She knew that the quicker she moved, the sooner she d reach the end of the forest. She wanted to reach the end of the forest as soon as possible. Hopefully before the sun came up. She couldn t imagine staying out here all night. She d be prey to all of those wild animals. Maybe she wouldn t even make it through the night. Not unless she found some kind of shelter. But she didn t plan on staying so at first, she didn t look.

The thing which scared her most was that the more she looked straight ahead of her as she stepped over twigs, Logs and dead Grass the more that she was only able to see the continuing Threat of the forest and Moon s horrible, haunting glow made it appear as if the forest would never end..As if she was trapped in an on-going and never ending forest and would never escape it. It made her feel weak and tired but it didn t stop her..It made her strive harder to move foreward, despite the moon s cunning, Irony nor her own instincts which told her she was fighting a losing battle. She still walked as far as she possibly could as she began to wander if she d make it out tonight. Maybe she should start looking for a place to camp out..A safe place. It was already starting to seem as if her life. Being married and having a little boy and living to the fullest was just a dream and this was her real existence.

At the top of a hill in the forest she stopped to catch her bearings. Her knees and ankles were killing her and she was getting so tired..So very tired. She didn t know what to do but she knew she had to look for some place to stay the night. She knew that she couldn t walk much farther. Besides, She felt as if she was being watched. As if something evil was following her. She had the urge to run but instead she moved very carefully watching every step she made as she knew that running would just draw attention to herself..If it was an animal it could catch her and kill her quickly without her even blinking an eye. So she moved slowly but nothing happened..Soon she picked up her speed and soon she was moving up on a secluded area where a nasty, faded and rotten Orange school bus had crashed some time ago..It s once Orange paint had changed and faded so much that it looked more like a beige color. The light in the bus had since dimmed out but with the florescence of the moon casting it s shadow the windows of the bus seemed to light up giving the whole bus a haunted glow. On the front of the bus was a since faded black sign which read Act B. None of the other letters were visible. Her guess was Activity Bus as she had traveled on a bus out of state when she was in high school to see her husband play basketball. She edged foreward moving up towards the opened school bus door..But all that was left inside was brutality and evil..Remains after remains..Person after person. She couldn t hardly even call them people now because what they were was a warning sign of what happens when you tried to escape this forest..these group of kids had ended up losing their lives..Even the smell was enough to destroy her. If there was one thing she knew it was that she didn t want to end up like that..She didn t want to end up just a pile of remains scattered among the forest. Obviously, something horrible had attacked the bus and killed them all brutally. She wouldn t die that way, she told herself that over and over again.. I can t..I m Haley James Scott..When it comes down to it I ll get home..I ll be with Nathan and Jamie again..This is just a nightmare! , She told herself this over and over again. The fact was she wasn t so sure it was just a nightmare..She wasn t sure where she was or if she d ever get home. The only thing she was certain of was that she was in danger..That she could die just as horribly as everyone on that bus had died and that scared her beyond belief.

All she knew was that she would strive..She would fight to not become trapped here like those lost souls..Those mangled remains that had been left to rot on that old and decayed bus. She wouldn t be left to rot like that. She would find a way home to her husband..To her little boy. She d fight whatever this evil was that was trapping her here..But she wandered..If this was just a nightmare..could she ever truly sleep again..Or would sleeping become the enemy? She hadn t thought about it until then because she hadn t thought it was a nightmare. She d thought it was reality. That she was just lost and she needed to find her way home. But maybe the fact that there seemed to be no end to this forest was a warning sign telling her that it was a nightmare and until she woke up this forest would be all she d see. She didn t want to think that way for fear that maybe she d never wake up. She was trying to stay positive even when staying positive was the hardest thing to do.

But she didn t want to believe that there was no getting out of here. She didn t want to believe that she wouldn t escape the forest tonight. Nor did she want to believe that she d soon be forced to take shelter no matter how haunting this forest was or how much danger she knew she was in. It wasn t a question of want to. it was a question of survival. She d do whatever she had to in order to survive and get back to her husband..Her little boy..and her friends. The life she loved was waiting for her and she wouldn t just fall down and let the world carry her away. That was a silent vow she d made to herself not realizing just how powerful..How evil this nightmare world really was.

So she kept walking. The reason she believed it all a big nightmare was because no matter how far she walked..emotionally she was more tired than she d been in her life. But physically she could run a mile. She knew that if this was real at all she d feel as well as tired but the knowledge of it being a nightmare made it even more frightening as it felt surreal. As if the evils..The threats in this world could hurt her in the present. She knew that what she was thinking..It was craziness. Those were the stuff that horror movies were made of-Not real life-. When she woke up from this nightmare and realized it was just that-A nightmare-. She d realize how foolish she sounded. Maybe when she awakened she wouldn t even remember the nightmare at all..Only a faint fearful feeling that she d been running from something. That s how dreams and nightmares worked. You never really remembered the nightmare itself. But you remembered the feeling that went along with the nightmare. Being scared and alone. fearing that you d never see the ones you loved again. Those feelings were very much real but haley wandered..If those feelings were real..Were the things that caused those feelings real,too?

Wherever she was it was dark. Really dark. Her only Guide to the world around her was the haunting, midnight glow of the moon that shined above and beyond as if nothing but a halo of light. But it seemed to mock her..To trick her. As if the light wasn t her friend afterall, but her enemy. But even so, she followed it because being in the light felt safer than being in the darkness alone and ungaurded. So she followed the rays of the moon further on. Through Shrubs and sticks that pulled at her legs. She climbed atop a grassy hill where the trees didn t seem to surround her as much. Where she could actually see. See if she could actually get out of the forest before first She looked from one direction to the next...The forest seemed to stretch out wherever she looked. It appeared to her as if the forest would never end. As if no matter how long and far she traveled..She d never be free of this darkness; This evil. She closed her eyes for a second, Willing the negative thoughts away. Thinking that if she just stayed positive that she d get out and return home..Safe and sound. .. It s just a trick..A stupid trick..Smoke and mirrors is all it is , She told herself. But even as she pushed herself straight ahead telling herself that it was mind games , didn t change the fact that wherever she looked was more forest and the moon and the darkness seemed to lurk all around..As if to tell her that she d never get out..A dark, gritty voice..A haunting voice in the night told her.. You ll never get out of here..Nobody ll even find you..You re gonna end up just like those mangled corpses on that school bus..Lost, Neglected, and brutalized and no matter how hard you run you ll never escape your fate..This is your fate, Haley James Scott! .. At first Haley had thought the voice was her own inner voice making her fears come to light. But it wasn t her voice at all. It was a man s voice. A hard Grity..Ice cold voice it was. But she couldn t see him. She could only hear him. Telling her that she might as well crawl onto that bus and take a seat. Cause you re gonna die alone and scared..and you re gonna die soon and it ll be horrifying ... Haley wanted to scream. She felt her heart jump up into her throat as her heart beat seemed to go stronger and faster than she d ever remembered it beating.

The most horrifying feeling in the world was hearing someone threatening you..Haunting you and not having the knowledge of knowing who they were, what they looked like, or even where they were. She d admit it. Right now she was scared. Scared to death. But she wouldn t let whoever it was get the best of her. She d survive. She wouldn t die and fall to peices like he expected her to. She wasn t going to climb onto that bus and give into whatever he thought her fate was. She d always been strong and had never given into things even when they were at their hardest. So she wasn t going to change that now. But she couldn t say that she wasn t petrified because she was. Just hearing those Those dark, haunting words..that voice..So devoid of heart or warmth..But of complete darkness. She d pushed herself fast and hard up hills and down hills through heavy grassy areas and dirt until a loud, Haunting howling noise stopped her in it s tracks.

Haley shivered, Trembling in terror at the sound of it. It wasn t as if she hadn t thought of the fact that there were wild animals around. This was a forest and a big forest at that. Which she yet again thought back to the bus and how all of those kids had lost their lives. Had been a wolf or a bear. Or some wild animal that had malled them. No ..She decided. There bodies had been too disfigured, Too brutalized to be a simple malling. Maybe the wild animals had done them in afterwards..but she had a feeling that there deaths had more to do with that haunting, evil voice than anything else she could imagine.

The wind began to blow heavy moving the branches so they swayed evenly from side to side. Haley could even feel the cold, winter chill of the wind. It wasn t winter though. Atleast not in reality. The wind made a Sad, howling noise. But she d known that it hadn t been the wind that had made that noise afew seconds ago. Something was out there, something was watching her and it became clear at that very moment the need to find somewhere safe from the night and quick unless that voice would end up being right and haley felt as if she d already known that if she died in this reality whether it was a dream or something else she d die in the real world,too.

She ran as fast as she could, nearly tripping over rocks, Dirt, branches, and grass as she sped through in search of safety and for the longest time she found nothing. just more trees, grass, dirt, and rocks.

She could see a stream of water to the side of her now. But there was something beside it. Something tall, Like an animal. Like a dog..She at first thought. But it was too big. Too monstrous to be a dog. But as she watched, every bone in her body froze in disbelief at what she was seeing and the terror that she felt as she did see it. The creature was big and furry..Grey,brown, and black patches of fur made up it s entire body but it wasn t a wild animal or a dog. Big black shiny claws with sharp razor blade nails to cut and tear a person open at will. It s fangs were sharp and warning while it s eyes..Those eyes..Those Silvery-Green eyes Taunted with evil desire to hunt it s prey and wrip it apart. Haley couldn t believe her eyes. She d seen movies but never had she ever had a nightmare as an adult. Atleast not about a werewolf..She knew that if she didn t run away that she d be it s next prey and right here, Right now she believed in everything she saw because she was no longer in her world..She was in it s world and she was in serious trouble.

It s eyes were cunning and vicious as it began to chase her..Lurking in the shadows as if to believe that it didn t even have to worry a bit. But this time haley ran hard and fast not caring if she tripped or fell. Soon she came to a path as it led up to an old, abandoned old Cabin which appeared to be falling a part in the glow of the moonlight as in the glow of the moon it seemed to her she was entering the sight of her own doom. But she tried not to think like that: She was a survivor. That s all that mattered right now.

But right now she couldn t be picky. Right now all she cared about was a roof over her head and a safe place to hide. Hide from this reaccuring nightmare..Hide from the monsters that haunted the forest. Hide from the idea that maybe that horrifying voice had been right and that maybe she never even had a chance.

The heavy door swung open as if it wasn t so sturdy afterall and would swing open with any kind of breeze. but she went inside of the cabin and pulled the door tightly behind her..Not paying attention to her surrounding at first as she was in the dark she felt for something heavy and reaized it was a chair and held it against the door as well as acouple of heavy bricks that had been near the outside of the door. once the door was secure and shut she d taken a look around. She d found an old lighter on the ground and was grateful that it still worked as she lit an old coleman lantern that sat on an end table near a bed..The bed was dust but was made up with fresh sheets and a cream colored blanket and pillow. the floors were weathered oak which had looked bright and shiny probably a decade ago, but now look and felt decayed and unsafe. but they were safer than being out there. She knew that in a place like this there was probably mice scurrying all over the place but in the whole night she didn t see one. things were quiet. Sure, it was cold but it was only one night. First thing in the morning, she vowed to herself she d be back home again.

She hadn t bothered to look in the darkened rooms when she d found the cabin. But the next morning she d done a thorough once over of the whole cabin. There was just a small kitchen with an old wood burning stove and a handmade oak table and chairs and the floors felt just as weathered and decayed. There was nothing to eat in the kitchen,though not that haley would ve tried eating anyway as the food was probably as old and outdated as this whole place seemed to be. But stepping outside in the light had never come up and it was still as dark as ever and the moon still raised high and bright like a beacon.

But this time she made a run for it. leaping through the high hills on a good jog that she hoped would carry her far away from wherever she was. She followed the moon as if in belief the moon was going to lead her home. She ignored all of the doubts and all of the haunting noises that made her feel weak and powerless. As if she was already dead. but then as she entered a place where trees became scarse she heard a voice but this time it wasn t that dark, evil man s voice. It was nathan s voice. She could hear him as clear as ever. his soft, genuinely loving voice was calling to her but she couldn t see him anywhere..

.. Come back to me hales , he said in a soft mournful whisper.

She ran, trying to follow the voice. Thought that maybe if she followed the voice, Nathan could lead her back home. I need you..Jamie needs you! , he urged once more.

Haley followed the moon while listening to Nathan s sweet, mournful voice. Begging her to come back to him. She no longer worried about how long and far the forest spread or the evil things willing to tear her to shreds because in her mind she didn t see all of that. She saw nathan s loving face. his dark silky hair..his dark , sensitive blue eyes..His beauty that had made so much more of a husband and a father than his father had ever been. She followed the moon and nathan until she could no longer hear his voice anymore. She was in the hospital, in a hospital room staring down at her own figure laying in bed, helpless and sick..Maybe even dying.

Nathan was there, he was holding her limp, lifeless hand in his..Tears streamed down his face.. Come back to me,hales ..he went on. The same voice that brought her back to him in the first place and she d realized right then that Nathan had saved her. And she owed him everything because of it. As if out of some kind of magic or some kind of rule she was no longer staring down at herself. She was in that bed hooked to wires and machines, half asleep. But when she d opened her eyes it wasn t like any nightmare she d ever experienced because in the still of the early morning s light Haley James Scott was certain that she remembered everything.

#2

The first few moments haley had awakened she had felt as if she was still in some kind of a dream world. As if she was not completely there yet she wasn t completely asleep. If anyone would ve asked, she wouldn t know how to explain it. It was almost as if she could see Nathan, She could feel his tender touch. Hear his words and feel how grateful she was that he was able to pull her back, but some part of her was still processing what she d felt and seen and wandering if it was really a nightmare or a dream at all. If maybe just maybe what she d experienced could be more than just that.

She remembered every single part of it. Down to hearing nathan s voice and him pulling her back to this world. But that voice..That hauntingly evil voice just wouldn t leave her. His voice seemed to haunt her very soul now that she d heard it. But it wasn t just the kind of voice you could just hear. somehow, someway his voice was different because with just one voice she was able to feel a mixture of emotions as if one man could possess the most undeniable power in the world and truly was just an ant that he could squash at any minute. She wanted to chastise herself about how she was acting.. Do you hear yourself? you sound cirtifiable. No one will believe you. Do you actually believe that this nightmare man is real..He s just a figment of a bad nightmare! , she thought to herself. But there was too much that did not add up. One thing being..Everyone dreams or had nightmares sometimes but she d never heard of a nightmare sending you directly into a coma..Not even the doctors could make sense of it. It wasn t normal. But did that necessarily mean that what she d seen was real? she didn t know. She knew that if she told Nathan he would be serious with her and he wouldn t laugh but she wasn t so sure about Lucas or the girls. She knew that Brooke would understand her..Brooke would try to see that she d been through alot. While Lucas. Lucas would make fun of her, he d laugh at her and be mean. The lucas that had been around lately wasn t exactly the same kid she grew up with. Somehow he d changed and she nor Nathan could understand why or how.. Now he was hateful and angry with everyone..Especially Peyton. They were married and had two kids..Sawyer and baby keith. Haley had thought that he should be thankful but she hadn t dared to ask him why he wasn t. she didn t want to be snapped at not that she put up with it as Nathan just let him walk all over him. Haley was never the kind of person to let people push her around..She was strong willed. Being strong wasn t a bad quality..It was the exact kind of quality that had saved her life.

acouple of hours after she d awakened she felt more herself even though there was a part of her that was still very much thinking about what she d seen and how she d felt in that coma nightmare-That s what the doctors called it- as they didn t have a technical name for what had happened. Dr. Harper Roberts was her main doctor. Long jet black hair she puled up into a ponytail and dark, asian eyes matched with high cheek bones and a pleasant smile..An older man with greyish brown hair and dark green eyes who wore a white lab coat was the other doctor that had been more in command with the whole situation..Dr. Edison Mills had been a doctor for atleas 40 years and was a specialist in his feild and even he knew nothing of what Haley had gone through. They d wanted to keep her a night for observation. While Nathan had to go home for when Dan,Deb, and Karen brought Jamie home as they d been on a camping trip as to keep jamie preoccupied so Nathan wouldn t have to answer so many questions about haley. But today he was coming home and today nathan didn t mind answering questions..Tomorrow morning Haley would be coming home. All he d tell their son was that his mother was sick, But she s well now. what else could you tell a 5-year old. He wouldn t dare tell him that his mother was hospitalized because of a nightmare. he d be petrifed of ever going to sleep again. It was bad enough that his Aunt quinn had brought a collection of horror movies..The nightmare on elm street movies for halloween and Jamie had stayed up for almost 3 weeks after he saw them. .. Oh Come on..Every kid watches a really great horror movie once in a while and wets the bed or won t go to sleep..It s called being a kid! You should ve seen some of the movies we made haley watch when she was little..She wet the bed every time.. , Quinn would go on laughing. Nathan had thought that Quinn and Taylor had a morbid since of humor, not that it bothered him other than the fact that Jamie had kept them awake for nearly 3 weeks saying that he thought he saw a hand with knives on his bedroom wall but was just the outside tree s shadow...Jamie hadn t had a dream like that since before he d met his grandpa dan and he d had reaccuring nightmares about Dan. So that s why they didn t tell there son about nightmares sometimes being dangerous. Although not even the doctors understood what had happened with haley. Nathan wouldn t lie..Just that alone scared him plenty. he d thought he was never going to see her again. He was just so relieved that this story had a happy ending. But Tonight Lucas had agreed to stay with haley as the doctors had agreed that it would do her some good as Lucas was her brother in law as well as one of her oldest and dearest friends. Lucas had even agreed to be warm and helpful instead of grumpy and mean.

It had been less than afew hours when Lucas had come into her hospital room. For the longest time they didn t say anything. he did seem as if he was worried and concerned about her. As if her almost dying had taken a toll on him and effected his life in some way. She did feel as if he cared and that he was the same Lucas Scott she d grown up with. But in his eyes..they were cold and Angry. Eyes that seemed to know something that she didn t. Eyes that had seen something so bad..So evil that he d never be the same again. She wanted to think that she was seeing things that weren t there. That maybe he was just going through a hard time or had changed because he wasn t just the lucas Scott who had been born and raised in Tree hill. He was a Hollywood figure now. Right after his daughter, Sawyer was born he d gotten the oppertunity of a lifetime and moved to Los Angeles, California with his newborn daughter and wife, peyton. But Not long after he d started his own television show off of his book, An unkindness to Ravens ..Although he d named it just simply.. The Ravens . But it hadn t changed him like this, haley thought. Sure, he was alittle bit more arrogant and had begun to feel that he was better than everyone. he hadn t even kept in touch as much as he used to but he hadn t been mean. His Show was on the CW network and brought in the biggest ratings the network had seen in years-almost 20 million viewers. But Lucas had gotten into a fight with the exec of the CW and had moved his show to Fox. Now his show brought in nearly 65 million viewers on Monday nights. Haley watched it. It was like looking into a mirror as it was the story of their lives growing up in tree hill. Ofcourse, with a different town name and different names for the charactors. Haley loved it. Even Jamie watched it. He d cuddle up on the sofa with them come monday nights and he d smile and giggle.. Is that what it was like growing up for you guys,mama? ..Haley would smile. Nathan would even smile. More or less,buddy ..Nathan added. But just afew weeks ago Lucas had added a new charactor..A deborah Hall..Instead of Scott the boys last name was hall. He made her just like Deb except making more like a prostitute. It had been all over TMZ last week how Deb had found him and knocked him out. TMZ had it on instant repeat.. The Lucas she knew would ve never done such a tacky thing to someone he knew. Even if it was just Deb Scott. Well, while not a scott anymore. She was still Nathan s mother. Lucas had always shown Deb respect but to create a charactor and privately slander her. This had even annoyed his own mother. Karen and Deb had their problems but Karen couldn t condone what her son had done.

But things had changed there to. Keith had become more of a drunk lately so Dan was justified in calling him Boozie , But Dan and Karen were married now. They had a five year old daughter Lily and a 4 year old son, Sam. Lily looked just like Karen..Long, dark brown hair and dark hazel eyes although her skin seemed to take on more of a natural tan than a dark complexion. While Sam was everything Dan. Light brown hair and dark blue eyes. Keith had even made mention how he looked like Danny when he was a boy. Although Lily was not Dan s daughter..Lily was Keith and Karen s daughter. They d been married for a while and something had gone wrong and now Keith and Karen could barely say two words to eachother without getting into a fight.

But back to the here and now. Lucas tried to smile. Tried to be warm and gentle like he promised his brother he would be. But something kept getting in the way. Haley almost died. It had been so close to the things his nightmares were made of. A voice..A dark, Angry..An evil voice told him not to get close..To only hate. Logic told him that if he got close he d lose his best friend..He d lose his brother..His wife..The children..Anyone he cared about... this evil..This dark man would take from him and the fear that was developing inside of him was filling him full of hate and anger..He could feel it destroying him and sometimes he did care. Sometimes he wanted to stop. To try to change it, But other times he realized that the evil wouldn t just go away and what if he took his guard down and everyone he cared about were killed..Just the way he envisioned it in his worst nightmares. So he distanced himself from it because that s what he had to do to survive this. It was easier this way, he believed. He knew what Dan Scott would call this..He d say he was being a little boy to where he needed to be a man. Peyton had even said that much.. I didn t Marry Lucas Scott the little boy..Atleast, I thought I married a man,Luke! , She d said that so many times for the last few years. Then that voice..That hateful..Evil and Cruel voice would come to him.. She doesn t respect you..She never will. She s never loved you..Not once , Then lucas would shutter at the thought of that voice being right when he d loved Peyton Sawyer his entire life. From the first time he d seen her as a child he d known and said.. One day I m gonna marry that girl ..and he had. Could it all be thrown away..Just as simple as that. The only one who knew his secret was Whitey..Whitey had referenced that he understood..That he believed him and thought he should tell Danny. Danny s a different man than he was before, Lucas..He s with you re mother now and she s brought out the good in Danny.. , It wasn t that Lucas still hated Dan. It wasn t that at all. Sure, they still had there problems..Lots of problems. Dan still hadn t been there for his whole entire childhood and now that he was around he felt cheated. He could be there for Lily..For Sammy..But he was never there for him. He knew that even nathan was a bit jealous at that. But they were making strides foreward..Himself, Nathan..They were trying to let Dan in even though he was still an ass, he wasn t as vicious and conniving as he d been in the past. But If there was one thing that Lucas wouldn t tolerate it was being laughed at. If a person said they heard evil voices that went down deep into their soul taking all the good out of life and making your world Rotten they sent you to an asylum and labeled you as crazy. But somehow he knew that Whitey had been right about Dan..But He and Dan weren t exactly that close in their relationship to actually talk about anything that serious. He d had long, personal chats with Whitey. He couldn t talk to keith anymore. Keith had changed when his mother had chosen to be with Dan. He d went back to drinking and nobody could really have a conversation with Keith without the bottle. He even turned his back on Lily who was really his and Karen s daughter. But it was like everyone had went opposite..Instead of keith helping karen raise the child it was Dan helping Karen raise his brothers child. To Luke it was weird how everything could change. The man you looked up to as a child turned into nothing but a pathetic drunk who only cared about himself and the one man you hated as a child reformed into somebody that could be respected..Somebody could be trusted and maybed someday a ways down the road he d look at his own father with the eyes of a son but he didn t even look at him as a friend now. He wasn t sure what he really thought of him other than respect . Now if that wasn t something that was laughable. If someone would ve told him years ago that right now he d respect Dan Scott , he d laugh in there face. But respect wasn t love. Dan made his mother happy..Happier than he d ever seen her in his entire life..He was a good father to Lily and Sam and he was trying..Trying to be a friend to him; To Nathan. That did count for something but the darkness inside of him wouldn t let him get close enough to love anybody, much less Dan Scott.

Whitey had just sighed on one of their many chats..that time they d sat at the picnic table to the side of the rivercourt. The rivercourt had always been where Lucas had done his best thinking. It was that way for Nathan,too. Whitey had been sure that when Dan and Keith were boys it had been the same for them. I can tell you what you are son..You re Haunted..I believe you..But givin in to the rage..The Anger, It s letting the monster win , It had been some very sage and wise advice and Lucas still knew that Whitey was right. He was letting the darkness take over and he was letting the evil win. But for the first time in his entire life..Lucas was scared. Scared that by not letting the evil win that he d lose everything. He knew all too well that this evil existed..and right now he knew that haley knew it too. But all he could feel was rage..Anger. Because one of his worst nightmares had almost come true this time and what would it take before it wasn t just a close call. He could feel himself dying with each day..With each breath as if the next time he opened his eyes he wasn t sure who he d be..Lucas Scott or this horrible dark person that he d become..A person he despised.

But Lucas remained quiet. He knew that she wanted to ask him why..Why was he so mean..Why was he so angry all the time. For a long while she didn t say anything. As if she was still reeling from a nightmare that was still going on in her own waking hours of the day..A time when nightmares were supposed to be put to rest. Lucas knew better than anyone that these nightmares never died. they were a part of you as if the darkness that was the evil was real..He had no doubt that he was and that he would destroy them all, The world too. He believed it even though he d never believed in superstition or the supernatural before..He did believe as everytime he looked in the mirror the evil was turning him into something darker than anything he could imagine..he just kept thinking back to an old quote he d quoted in his book, An unkindness to Ravens . It was one of his favorites, yet heart pounding quotes that he d ever wrote down on paper and it put everything he was feeling into words.. Does this darkness have a name..Is it your name? ..

Haley was lying on the bed, it seemed motionless. Stuck in her own hell. Reeling from a nightmare that appeared to have no end. She tried to forget about it. Tried to move past it and realize that she was awake..she d escaped that horrible, nightmarish world..A world she d thought she would ve died in if Nathan hadn t brought her home or the moon had glazed just right enough to lead the way and in some ways it seemed as though a part of her was missing..Like a part of her had experienced some horrific form of darkness and knew something bad was coming. But if she told anyone, especially luke. She was certain Lucas would just laugh at her. Make her out to be a joke. He wasn t the same Lucas she remembered and she wanted to know..She needed to know...Why?!

Her dark brown eyes..Full of worry and conern gazed up in Lucas direction. He stood there, just simply staring her way. His eyes were filled with ice and torment and he didn t smile..Not one bit. Haley brushed a strand of her light brown hair out of her face. Her hair felt dry, Like she hadn t washed it in weeks and that alone made her feel as if her nightmare had been real in someway. She gazed up at Luke..Lucas blue eyes seemed to stare right through her. His dark blonde hair, now tapered into a shorter cut made him appear handsome in every way but the shadows that hung over his face made him seem haunted and hurt, somehow. It was so peculiar..Haley wasn t quite sure how to describe or explain what she saw when she looked at him now.

.. Why are you like this,Luke? What s changing you.. , It was a simple question. her throat felt like sand paper as she spoke. But it didn t stop her determination to find out the truth about why her best friend had suddenly changed in the last year or out of nowhere. Sure, he was a public figure now..A celebrity. And he had developed an arrogant attitude because of that..But Arrogant and plain out right Cruelty were two different things and she thought she deserved an answer..She deserved to know why as she d been his best friend ever since they were kids but she doubted that she d get an answer.

Fire had seemed to ignite in his eyes as he glared at her. Not that he himself hadn t expected the question but whenever he was asked a question about his attitude or challenged him in anyway he got mad..When he got mad that darkness just seemed to take over and it was no longer Lucas Scott at the wheel anymore..it was just plane out right Rage.

.. Like What!? I haven t even said anything yet..I m actually happy to be here..Time away from PEYTON! That s just what I need! , he roared. Whenever he went into one of his attacks against them it always went back to peyton. Haley knew that he meant none of it. He loved peyton. If there was any person who knew Lucas better than anybody it was herself and ofcourse, his mother. Something was changing..Something was controlling him and she wanted to know what. Had he had nightmares like hers..Was he plagued by them?! She didn t believe that,though. it was rare for two or more people to share the same nightmare. But she knew that if she had nightmares like that continually, she d be driven insane. She was almost afraid to sleep..For fear that she d be pulled back into that world and maybe this time nobody would be able to save her. It was a fear that she d harbored ever since she d awakened and realized she d been saved.

Lucas had become annoyed by her.. But lucky me..I get stuck with you! I promised Nathan I d behave..But maybe I lied..See: I can be a liar just like the rest of you! I don t even want to be here! , he d almost yelled. Haley was worried that a nurse would come in and tell him to be quiet or he d have to leave. Right now, she knew what he d chose. he wasn t the most pleasing company. She knew that he cared..that he d been worried about her. On the inside he was the old Luke..Atleast she hoped he was. On the outside all she saw was an armour of Anger and rage. She wanted to understand but right now at this moment, she wouldn t be able to.

Things were freakishly quiet for the longest time and soon Haley was fast asleep again. While she'd been asleep Lucas had dissapeared out of the hospital room as he denied sleep to take him over. He'd never admit that he was afraid what sleep would bring but it was one thing that was inevitable. He'd eventually fall asleep and that darkness, that dark figure and those dark, inhuman Saphire blue eyes would be there waiting for him, Tormenting him with every step he made and then he'd be reminded about the one thing he feared most: that no matter what he Said or Did this darkness could take away everything and leave him with nothing. So he'd let everything he cared about or held as important to him go. Pretended not to care about people. He wanted them to hate him..He was in the process of letting them all go and in that process he was losing himself but for once he didn't care. In his mind he was already dead. He'd died the first time he'd seen those eyes, Witnessed that evil. Darkness like that..It changes you. He'd realized that the first time he'd seen evil's true face.


	2. Chapter 2

Ch.2 Long Lost Brother; Long Lost Friend

The darkness had appeared to loom all around him almost as if there was nothing but darkness that would guide him for the rest of his life. He was used to it. Ever since he was a little boy the world had been nothing but a pit of darkness to carry him from one job to the next..Jobs were what he referred to them sometimes but truly what it had been was hunting..Hunting one Demon after the next. They'd done it because one day they'd hoped to find the monster who killed their mother and find revenge. Sure, they'd gotten their Revenge and they'd destroyed the 'Yellow Eyed Demon' but With that Dean had only had a year to live and the darkness just seemed to go on and on. Once you start to live a life like that you can't just stop. That's one of the things that he'd learned After the demon had been destroyed. Just because 'Azazel' was gone and buried didn't mean they could go back to living a normal life..It didn't mean that Dean would have a home..It didn't mean that Sammy could have a normal life. By the time they'd destroyed the demon hunters had been the only thing they knew how to be. But things had changed since..It was bitter, it was cruel. But he'd lost Sammy. He'd failed his brother and he knew it and he got to live..He was allowed to live while Sammy did penance for saving the world..Being the vessel for Lucifer. He had went down into the pit of hell and he was gone. Of course Dean had promised Sammy he wouldn't find a way to bring him back. It wasn't a promise he was happy about. It was one of them promises that you wished you could take back no matter what but at the end of the day you couldn't. But as time passed Dean couldn't help that he was happy..He couldn't help that he'd fallen in love. But he had. He'd fallen in love at the one time he wasn't looking for love..But just like an epic Love Story..Love just kind of happened to him and afterwards it was the thing in his life that he was the most thankful for. without that love..without his family he would've died. Because every time he thought about Sammy he felt like a failure..But then his father miraculously turned up and everything changed. Nobody knew why John Winchester had come back all of a sudden..As far as Castiel knew it wasn't about the angels either. But that was the truth of it: some things were just coincidence and couldn't be explained..They just were what they were.

But the fact of the matter was that Dean had to go on without his brother. For the longest time before John had returned Dean could hear his fathers' words telling him to look after his brother..That his only job was Sammy. But then he'd also have to live with the realization that Sammy was gone and that he'd failed. The only job he'd ever had he'd failed and even though his father returning and eventually telling him that it was okay. That he knew that eventually something like this might happen and that was why he'd told him before he died that he might have to kill Sammy eventually but it didn't stop him from feeling like a failure even though there was nothing he could do about it. But with no body, No death record or anything you could pretend that Sammy was still alive. John didn't want that. He'd told Dean bitterly and without any kind of warmth..'You're brothers dead..accept it and move on'. It was what they had to do. It's what they'd always done in order to stay strong and be the hunters that they were.

But time had seemed to move on. He had a wife now. A wife who understood his past almost as much as his own brother did when he'd been alive. She'd been a Slayer and still had the powers of the slayer But that after her friend vanished she'd lost the will to fight the good fight. Lost the will to save the world as she always had done and had sort of faded away from that life..Sure, she still saw her friends from time to time. Her old watcher/Father figure was around. He was married now with two girls of his own. Although his wife of whom he'd met in england..Well she wasn't British but just visiting on a trip had been originally from North Carolina, Her name was Deborah..Deb for Short. She'd once been married to Dan Scott but things had changed and she'd taken her maiden name back and had become Deb Lee again. But now she was Deb Giles. His wife and Deb couldn't stand each other and it irritated buffy because whenever she wanted to talk to Giles alone, Deb was there.

Her good friend Xander lived just down the street in San Francisco, Where they lived. Of course he was still a single guy but he'd chosen to be after Losing his ex fiance' as he found that life suited him better. But as far as her friend willow, As far as she knew Willow Rosenberg was dead. Sure, there had been no body. No proof that willow was dead. But she had been missing a very long. Had dissapeared in the night leaving buffy and the rest of them to believe that she had been attacked by a demon or a vampire and she was dead. Unlike her husband who actually had seen his brother jump into the pit to save the world..It was the not knowing that hurt buffy the most. All of the nights she d stayed up in terror that she couldn t save her best friend. That she d let her best friend get taken like that and for almost 8 years now she hadn t been able to move on from it and it was something that was still very much with her even now. In her mind she knew that if Willow was really alive willow would ve contacted her somehow..She d be here with her now so willow had to be dead because she hadn t turned up in almost 8 years. But her life wasn t bad. She d been given what she d always wanted..A normal life. And most days she loved it. She loved having a husband..having 2 wonderful children and one on the way..Not having to be the slayer even though she still technically was. But she d wanted to share this part of herself with her best friend. She d wanted Willow to be her Daughter s God-mother as her husband, Dean had already made a family friend their son s God-father. But Willow wasn t here for any of it. She could tell how badly it was hurting xander,too. Willow hadn t just been his friend, she d been practically family as they d known each other longer than she d known the both of them. But she tried not to think about willow. About how terrible it had been for her in the end. How it had been to die without buffy coming save her. A part of her would always hate herself for failing her best friend. Even though dean would tell her it was okay..That he understood. That he felt the same way with his brother. It didn t change how she felt and it didn t make it stop just because somebody understood. It just made it that much more real. But She tried her best. Dean knew she tried. Just as he tried to get passed the fact that he d failed his brother when his whole life that had been his only obligation..His only job. To take care of Sammy. But Sammy was gone and it was his fault. He didn t even care what his own father said. of course his father was backtracking now when he had to realize that Dean had failed but the old John Winchester. The one knew growing up would ve been just as dissapointed him as he was in himself.

But there was nothing he could do about it. He d promised Sam that he wouldn t try to find him or bring him back. He d promised Sam that he d go and have a normal, apple pie life. And he had done that. Sure, it was hard to move away from it all. It was hard to deal with all of the guilt of letting his brother rot in the pit but he d kept his promise and he was happy. He was in love with his wife of almost 8 years..He was a proud father of two children and one on the way..The only thing about his life he wasn t happy with was the past..his guilt over Sammy. He d wanted Sammy to be here. To share in this life. He could be a favorite uncle.., Uncle Sammy ..Dean had thought it sounded nice. They d only known each other in a supernatural setting. He d wished that Sammy could ve known him like this..That he could ve known buffy..His niece and nephew. and more than that, Dean wished that Sammy could ve known this kind of living. This was what he d always wanted: A normal life complete with a wife, kids, and a white picket fence and the fact that he could never enjoy this hurt him and made him not want to think of his brother. Mostly he thought of Sammy late at night when his mind would wander into the past and he would feel sorry for himself..for Sammy. For the way they d lived and what had happened that night to their mother. He was sure that his father thought the same way. Deep down he knew that his father hadn t wanted this for them and maybe he looked at this as a fresh start. he was different, yet the same. Wanted to be there for his grandchildren. Maybe Dean was alittle bit jealous of that. He wanted to do all of the things with his son, Bobby and his daughter, Celia that he could ve and would ve done with him and Sammy if it hadn t been for the yellow eyed demon.

But that brought him back in the here and the now. It was was pitch dark. The sort of darkness that could scare a young child out of his mind and the kind of darkness he d been living in his entire life..The kind of darkness he d been introduced to when he d been barely five years old the night the demon took his mother away and destroyed his family. He wanted to close his eyes..To whisper in a deep, reassuring voice that this wasn t real. That this was nothing but a dream and he d soon wake up and realize that this darkness no longer existed for him. He may have been trapped in the darkness but he could see enough to tell that he was in the deep, dark forest...He d never been afraid of much because his whole life he d seen things that most people couldn t imagine in their worst nightmare but this place, It spoke of nasty, Rotting things..Evil things. The Glow of the haunting moon that hung above, gleaming down over the forest spoke in a soft, haunting voice.., I am what the night fears . Dean told himself that he was hearing things. he was much too old for nightmares and childish fears. To tell his father this, he was sure that John Winchester would have a good laugh. He hadn t had a nightmare since he was 7 years old and he was a grown man now. It was alittle odd for him to have a nightmare. But then again, was it so odd for an adult to have a bad dream. His wife, Buffy..She told him all the time she had them. But she also said it was part of who and what she was. It was part of being the slayer.

#2

But the darkness and ominous evil of the forest seemed to loom around him, taunting him. Telling him of how he was going to die..Alone and abandoned. That had been one of his biggest, more terrifying fears as a child. That the darkness they hunted would consume him and he d become just what the night feared..Just what he, his brother, and his father had always hunted..He shook the feeling of dread away from him and began to walk into the dark night just then realizing that the darkness had already trapped him inside it s reverie of an unending nightmare and the only way out was to face the darkness head on.

Dean noticed something about the moon, they hadn t really dealt with the moon. they d always dealt in demons and other things. But never the moon. Deep in the sky the haunting full moon had changed into a Eclipse. He d been so immersed, so intrigued by the eclipse. It appeared like something from a horror movie..something Dean had never seen before. He d heard that strange things happened when there was an eclipse. But the chill of the darkness and the threat that loomed above him was enough to make him movie forward..Wanting to get away. He wasn t so sure what was reality anymore. His fear was that the right here, right now was reality and like so many times before having a wife, children of his own..A normal life was just a dream he d had and that none of it was true. Wanted to believe that was a lie but deep down he was worried that maybe that was the truth. Maybe this was another hunt gone wrong and Sammy was very much alive. But he seriously doubted that.

But still he walked on..Walked on wanting to get out of this darkness for sooner he got out of this darkness the sooner he d see the truth for what it was. He d rather have the truth than be trapped in this darkness, unaware of the world that went on around him.

Suddenly Dean noticed, hidden by a couple tall trees with big, aged trunks was a hidden Castle or what had once passed as castle years ago, Made of aged stone that looked more of a dark grey than the pristine white that it must ve been when the stones were first laid. Dean could imagine how beautiful the place must ve been when it was brand new and now it just looked like an old, dying and decaying building but still in it s dying light it still looked dignified in it s own way. But as dignified as it looked it did still give Dean a creepy feeling. As if it was the scene for a horror movie and not just an abandoned old castle that once been more than what he saw now. But still he found himself being pulled towards it, As if from some deep need he needed to see what was on the inside. Curiosity had gotten the best of him when the one thing he should ve been more concerned about was leaving..Leaving and finding a way out. Finding a way back home. But somehow it was as if for one moment he had forgotten about getting out and the nightmare had carried him away as if he was nothing but a pawn in a game..A game piece that needed to be moved from one spot to the next. But that was the question among all questions.. Was it a nightmare or reality? .

Most people would ve thought that once inside it would ve been dark and gloomy. On the inside he d expected it to appear abandoned and deserted and yes, ugly,too but it was none of those things. Sure, there wasn t a bright florescent light or Running water or electric power but it most certainly wasn t dark and while items appeared dusty and the floors navy blue carpet wasn t as bright as he was sure it had once been but still stood up tall and Radiant and even though this place probably didn t exist he respected it. His first mistake was assuming that because the building stood tall and protective that it was a place of Safety..A place made of light. A sort of protective space to hide from harm. Yet again, that had been his first mistake. He d learned then that the first mistake was ever assuming anything and you d think through all of the lifetime of hunting he d have realized that already.

But obviously he still had plenty to learn. But he found himself walking in a daze. Feeling like he was safe. Like he could hide out here and no matter what he d be safe as to him this was the safest place to hide. Sure, he wanted to get as far away as he possibly could but it had seemed like the more he walked, the more lost and trapped he was and this place..he hadn t found this place. It had found him.

He found himself stumbling into a room..Well it looked like a room. But it was a garden with tall Arches and everything from Tiger Lilies to Daisies. even the ground appeared to be made of white, Porcelain like stone. Their was an oval Gap in between where the garden and the stone met with bright blue water that created a waterfall. It was the only part of the building that looked brand new..As if somebody had been maintaining the garden. Or maybe he was seeing everything he wanted to see and none of it truly existed. Maybe this was just a nightmare and he was waiting to wake up, he thought. But that didn t stop that his mind thought he was right here, right now. Their was double matching French doors and through the fine shine of the glass you could see the dark of night and sparkling full moon in which standing in a beautiful garden seemed almost hopeful but deep inside it was evil..Ominous. As if it was testing him and this was all a bitter lie. He was certain that this was a scene that artist would draw and paint about. But himself, he wanted to stay here. To hide. The weird thing was that was so unlike Dean. Dean hadn t been the kind of person to run away..To hide like this. But then again Dean Winchester had never feared anything since the night his mother died and he got a taste of real evil. But this..This wasn t something he could see or something he could fight. It was like the wind..It had no face. But he knew it was there.

That was when he saw her. She was standing their on the other side of the waterfall. She was beautiful with long silky brunette hair and a white silky dress, To dean it reminded him the dress his wife wore for their wedding day. but she was beautiful..To him she seemed like an angel. Maybe that was why he felt extra safe there. he d just stood there watching, a huge smile on his lips as he watched her intently. then she turned and for the first time he saw those dark, sparkling hazel eyes and big ruby lips which to dean made her look perfect, Like a real life Angel..But then something happened. Something terrible. Her eyes turned a rare, odd blue..Such blue as Dean had never seen before. A haunting, cold dark blue that made her very existence seem ominous and terrifying. Worse than anything he d ever experienced in hell. Worse than the yellow eyed demon, himself. Those eyes were so haunting and evil that Dean couldn t think of anything but how terrifying they made him feel..The only color of blue that was close to the dark, mourning, evil blue eyes was the color of Sapphire. But while Sapphire in jewelery was beautiful and elegant..amazing even. This sapphire was a warning sign of evil that seemed to make him fear everything. Of which he hated. He wasn t this kind of a person. He was Dean Winchester, He was a hunter. But he tried to be strong. But the presence of evil was all around him and he couldn t help but to know that this time this kind of evil wasn t the same as all of the others he d come acrossed in the passed. But this was just a nightmare,right? this couldn t be real. he was starting to question everything he d thought about up until this moment.

Then the figures eyes turned black. Not sensitive human eyes. But dark, mysterious evil eyes. The eyes of many demons that he and his family had went up against. But he had a sense that this wasn t just a demon but something much worse and he d realized that this was no longer a place of great safety but a place of great fear and terror. Demons he d dealt with, this was something entirely different.

But before Dean could wait and see what would happen next he sensed evil, as before it wasn t a person or something he could see..it was a feeling and the second he felt it his legs allowed him the great speed he needed to get away..To run as far and as fast as he possibly could in order to escape. Escape the one place he d thought would be the safest place at a time like this.

He ran so fast that at times he thought he d stop breathing just simply for the fact that he was so rushed and so terrified by all he knew existed yet was unseen. It wasn t a voice telling him he was going to die and be destroyed like it had been in haley s nightmare, Haley was a girl who dean hadn t yet met but right here right now they were linked..Linked by their nightmares..Nightmares they shared yet were not aware. Dean thought he was the only one..Well with accept ion of buffy that was having these sort of nightmares. He was convinced it was a nightmare. he hoped it was. Because if this was his reality he d wish for death.

Soon Dean had found himself away from the large trees of the forest and near a stream of water where a waterfall gleamed in beauty and the dark, gleaming moon shined over it making it seem more like a painting than anything else but it was real. Dean could feel the soft, spray of salt water breezing over his skin proved it was real. But it was beautiful and Dean had stopped to notice how beautiful it was. But then that woman. The one he d been running from that had been full of terror and horror had found him. she stood there. Her eyes the darkest of Sapphire blue turning a demonic black..her long silky brown hair down her back and beauty shining through..But while it was a beauty..It was a haunting beauty. Just one look told Dean that it was evil in it s purest form. but she never spoke..Didn t say anything. Not once did it say a thing. Just stood there. A pleasing smile on her face, A darkness in her soul that made it all very real that she wasn t a person at all but a thing .

But before his eyes she was gone and what was left was his mother. her long blonde hair fell down her shoulders, her dark blue eyes watched him. she gazed at him intently as if she wasn t really his mother..But a spook who was being controlled by someone stronger..someone more powerful. She didn t say a word either. Just shook her head. As if to taunt him, As if to tell him that he wasn t the boy she wanted for a son. Dean told himself silently that this was not his mother. His mother would be proud of him. His mother wouldn t be this soulless spirit trying to make him doubt himself. The spirit of his mother had once saved him and Sammy and destroyed herself in the process so this could not be their mother..But before he could even blink his eyes she was gone, Like out of mid air she was gone and the demon stood there, his yellow eyes glistening and glittering with evil and a cocky expression on his lips. But unlike the other hallucinations or visions Dean had seen the demon spoke to him, What you did Dean...It set everything in motion and I just..Well, I just wanted to thank you..You ve made Sammy my lucky #1 , Dean shifted alittle to turn away. It was so hard to look into those hateful, evil yellow eyes..Eyes that had taken so much from them throughout their lives..Their mother, their family and now if this was real and not a dream..His brother,too. But soon the demon was gone,too. This had to be a dream..A nightmare. Not that something like this couldn t happen in reality as he d seen so much that this could very easily happen but everything seemed so surreal and maybe that s what led him to believe it was just a terrible nightmare and soon he d wake up. The one thing that made him almost know that it wasn t real was he didn t live that life anymore. He was a father..A husband. He had a home and this was of things that had existed before that. But when he looked back, he couldn t believe his eyes..what he saw was something he d wanted to see for a very long time but no matter how his eyes deceived him he knew it wasn t Sammy. It could never really be Sammy because his brother was dead. He reminded himself that and tried not to believe the lie that was standing right before him.

Every Detail of the figure standing right in front of him was Sammy through and through down to his medium length dark hair and playful expression. An expression he d seen from the time Sammy was a small baby til he became a man. But Dean knew it was a lie, But if that was true why did this presence effect him so much. But that was rather simple, wasn t it. Sammy didn t just resemble the brother he loved and lost..He resembled his failure to save his brother and all of the things he felt bad about since losing his brother and this moment, here and now it was the biggest nightmare that Dean could ever imagine was being here right now and seeing what he was seeing. He wanted the vision to go away and never come back. He d rather see the demon himself than this lie.

But the figure in front of him did not go away or change. He stood there just staring at Dean with an arrogant expression on his face. A expression that was so unlike Sammy. his brother had an arrogance about him but never like this and never to dean and that s what was different. The figure took acouple of steps toward Dean and then stopped gazing at him. Something changed, the figure did not dissappear or switch into another vision to taunt him..Dean watched as Sammy s eyes turned black; Demon black and his face turned somber and menacing..Evil.

Take a good look Dean..this is what you made of me..You did this to me! , Dean almost fell backwards as if he d just been attacked physically. But the terrifying emotion and terror that had raged through him at that moment could ve destroyed his entire heart and soul just in that moment. Like it wasn t enough just to know that he d failed to save his brother. No this didn t happen..He isn t this..thing! , Dean s scream was so loud that the demon_Sam just chuckled in reply, What do you think happens when you go to hell,Dean..What do you think Lucifer did to me in the pit! .

Dean closed his eyes..closed his eyes so tightly that it hurt willing the vision away. Willing it away so much that he started to say it out loud. .. You re not real..You re a lie ..He said that over and over again until he opened his eyes. But the vision was still there. Some type of deep fear, Deep terror reached inside of him and he ran. Ran faster than he d ran when he d been running from the demonic woman who in his mind was supposed to be a source of beauty and protection..but who had led him to this horror. So he ran, he followed the moon and the light that the moon gave him..He d remembered what Bobby had once told him about Light and darkness.. You could never go wrong in the light,boy ..he d said this before when they were fighting this demon or that demon. He had faith that nothing he d seen was real or meant anything and that as soon as he woke up from this night terror he d be there, safe..with his wife. His two children. Things would be okay and this would just be another random horrible nightmare on another random horrible night. that s all it is..He told himself. But that was the question that many asked themselves after a nightmare such as this..Was it a nightmare at all? or was it a vision.

#3

The busy highway was intense in front of him..Cars and Trucks..Even motor-bikes roared passed him in the growing, intense darkness of the night. Dean knew enough to know that now he was awake. Alert, even. More alert than he d been for a long time now ever since these nightmares had started. Unlike most dreams and nightmares he remembered every detail not to mention the fear he d felt while having the nightmare. He hadn t told buffy or anyone for that fact. Well, he had told his father. John had been rather non-chalant about it. you don t live that life anymore..you have the one thing that I always wanted you to have dean..You have a home , But Dean knew that John Didn t dream. he d made a point of telling his son that afew times before because he d done something a long time ago so he would never dream again. All dreams had led to for John was a memory of the night when he d lost his wife and that was a night he wanted to forget entirely. Not that John was able to forget about that night in general but it was better not to be plagued by nightmares of the worst night of his life and never sleep. Yet again, this was another thing Dean knew nothing about. All dean knew was that his father didn t dream and he d never had a nightmare since that night. But Dean wandered if he should tell buffy. He didn t want her to worry or panic. After all, she was nearly five months pregnant and he wouldn t do anything that effected the baby or Buffy s own health. It was probably just a bad reaccurring nightmare..Nothing more. He d told himself that over and over again ever since the first time he d had the nightmare..nearly a month and a half ago. But with every time he had it, It seemed to get that much worse.

Like a rush of adrenaline he felt charged and bolted awake by what he d woke up to. Across the busy highway he could see his wife. she was wearing a powder blue blouse and matching jeans and her pregnant figure was easily seen by all of the vehicles who passed. Her long blonde hair was pulled up into a ponytail and her her dark blue eyes were filled with worry and anger..Both which were directed at him. Dean was waiting for a lull in traffic so he could cross without getting injured. He knew what had happened , Like a couple of other times he d sleep-walked and instead of his father finding him this time, It had been his wife.

Buffy couldn t believe what she was seeing. Sure, John had told her what had been going on but she hadn t really thought it was that big of a deal. But he d walked into traffic this time. what would ve happened if he would ve still been sleep walking and had gotten hurt or killed. Buffy had never sleep walked in her life so she didn t know how far dean would go if it got really bad. Obviously, John had told her that when Dean was a small boy..Their son Bobby s age he d sleep walked allot the first few months after his mother was killed, but obviously it was to be expected. he d just lost his mother. But it had started up again and not even John understood why. Buffy knew he was concerned but it had to do with their old life..the life they all kind of linked with as she d been the slayer and had a destiny and now she had a normal life..not that she wasn t still the slayer and couldn t still do the things she d done in the past but she d chosen a different life and she d chosen dean. John knew that Dean didn t want to hear about anything that had anything to do with Hunting so for the most part in order to get into his son s good graces again and start a natural and normal relationship with him he tried not to bring up anything that had to do with hunting, afterall, this was his second chance at being a father. Besides, they weren t hunting anymore. But Buffy realized that he was worried and knew that this would push them back into the world of hunting..It would push buffy back into the world of slaying. But things had changed in the last few weeks. Buffy s nightmares had become different. Not just the nightmares of the slayer and she wanted to talk to giles but was unable. Everytime she went acrossed town to see Giles She was always there. Buffy and Rupert s wife, Deb got along about like oil and water. They could not stand each other and Giles didn t say anything to get her to leave..Like buffy, Rupert Giles had chosen a life without being the watcher or even connected to the watcher s council and even though buffy was a friend and he still looked at her as a friend he never wanted to talk about her slaying duties unless it was an absolute emergency. It was an emergency but Deb had been away with the girls..their twin girls, Michelle and Mandi for a while and she was home and they wanted time together so buffy was left to deal with this problem by herself and even though Xander only lived a block or so away this wasn t exactly Xander s type of problem solving. But now that Dean was having these nightmares too..Buffy wasn t so sure what to think. Maybe Xander was in the middle of this as well. But she didn t know unless she made a point of talking with him. Maybe she would.

Soon the traffic died down and Dean Crossed the street without any trouble he was there with buffy. She was quiet. didn t say much of anything. But she was relieved that he was okay and they were going home. Home where John was watching the children while they slept..home where it was safe and nightmares didn t exist. She was alittle upset with dean. Believed that he could ve told her about this himself instead of her having to hear this from his father.

Everything was quiet between the two until they entered the house. They lived in a nice house..It wasn t a rich home by any means. Not much different than the house she had lived in when she d been a child in sunnydale. Although it was afew miles away in the city..San Francisco to be exact. Just a two story house with a fixed up basement. The basement was where John, Dean s father slept. If you didn t know otherwise you wouldn t think it was a basement. It looked like an average master bedroom with beige carpet, An oak dresser and a King-sized bed with a winter green comforter and a trunk..A trunk that was of the old..A leather bound journal which kept all of his hunting secrets that the boys had went by for years and weapons..The cult of which he kept under lock and key as he knew that their were still demons out there. It didn t matter if they lived that life or not. Of course Rock Salt and all of the sizes of guns that one person could imagine..But he rarely opened it anymore as he had no need to. Just kept it locked up so no one or no thing could get into it. Buffy had a similar trunk in her closet locked up with Stakes, Holy water, etc.. everything you d need to to kill a vampire. The kitchen was your average medium sized kitchen with wooden floors and a matching wrap around bar with your typical Stainless steel Stove and Fridge and a double sink..So it was pretty much your average kitchen. A large oval kitchen table made of wood and four matching chairs.

The front room was alittle bit bigger with navy blue carpet and walls painted white, A red velvet couch and sofa with a glass coffee table and a 27 inch television set. Up a winding staircase was a long white carpeted hallway that led 2 a bathroom and 2 bedrooms. One was the master bedroom with hard floors and a King sized bed with powder blue comforter and pillows and in the closet housed all of their clothes..In the back of the closet was a large wooden trunk which was locked with buffy s secret slayer stuff and of course they both had things that they d had throughout there life. Dean still had his necklace in which he wore everyday..it was a necklace in which Sammy gave him when they were kids and he still bore the tattoo in which that prevented him from being possessed. Not just that, he still had the impala. That impala had been their from the start and would be their long after their family was dead and gone. That car had delivered Buffy to the hospital twice to give birth..The first time to Celia..Almost a year later Bobby was born. That car was as much of a staple of their family to them as it had been when the winchester boys were growing up and John hadn t dared take the car back..Instead, John had a new car..A vintage Jaguar of which he boasted about.

The kids shared a room, a set of bunk beds with pink and blue blankets and pillows, matching tie dyed carpet and a huge blue toy box and the same tie dyed looking wallpaper. John had said that the room hurt his eyes it was so bright and that not even Dean and Sammy s room had been so bright before that night. But Celia was in love with the color Pink while Bobby was a fan of blue.

Dean followed buffy into the house. the house was dark this time of night. Just as dark as it had been outside with exception of the moon. of course the moon shined through the windows bringing in alittle bit of light but not nearly enough. The first thing buffy did as they entered the front room or the dining room as some called it was she turned on a standing Bell light which gave them more than enough light to make it seem like it was daytime and not midnight on the night of the full moon.

Even with the light it was as quiet as ever for a long time. They just stood their looking at each other as if waiting for the first person to say something.

.. You could ve told me about all of this instead of having you re father tell me! , Dean knew how she felt yet his father wasn t supposed to tell her but Dean understood what she meant, I should ve told you but you re pregnant and I didn t want to worry you and hurt you and the baby . Buffy sighed after a second and nodded. She understood yet she wasn t a child and she didn t need to be protected. She d never needed to be protected and being in a normal relationship and having a family and being protected it was still alot to get used to but she did understand. Or at least she tried her best to understand. She knew it was just as strange for Dean as it was for her as they d come from similar worlds.

She nodded. I understand. I do but we need to be honest with each other and these nightmares are starting to worry me , Dean got the intense feeling that she wasn t just talking about his nightmares either as he looked at her taking a step closer to her in the stillness of the night, You too? . After a second buffy nodded. this isn t just slayer stuff either so tomorrow I think I m going to go to Xander s and discuss this scooby style , She smiled at dean as she took his hand in hers. She knew that it wasn t really scooby style because that would mean Giles would think of someone other than Deb and that would also mean that willow was actually around and not dead..Not dead because of her..that still stung. But she sposed she couldn t blame Giles either as he was a married man now and he had a family..She put Dean before everyone else too..Did that make her selfish?

John came down the stairs, his dark muscular looking figured shadowed in the dark for a few moments he said nothing. Just watched them knowing what their conversation was probably like. this hadn t exactly been the first time Dean had lied to her about a nightmare and sleep walked but he was certain that she was more concerned and worried than she was angry..he was concerned,too. But he liked this way of getting closer to his son without the hunting destroying things. He d been given a second chance without the mistakes of his past interrupting it all and the truth was, this was the life he d wanted for Dean..For Sammy,too. This was how he d always envisioned it. But the past still seemed to ruin it as he couldn t help but to be the man he d became the night Mary had died. He wouldn t wish that existence on anybody..especially buffy. He d really gotten to know her and he liked who she was. He didn t just look at her as his daughter in-law..He looked at her as a daughter..A friend. He cared about her and he cared about his grand children. In Bobby and Celia he had a chance to completely start over and be the type of man he d wished he could ve been to his boys. Sure, it wasn t as if you couldn t understand why he d been hard, a drill seargant. But John could imagine what he d been like in their prospective.

But he was glad that Dean was back, Safe and sound. He glared at him with disgust and irritation. As if his mere existence annoyed him.. It isn t your place to talk to my wife about me! , Buffy stood back taking it as her cue that they were going to start bickering as John stepped down the stairs and toward his son, I ll decide what my place is and what is in t Dean..You show alittle respect. We May have our issues but I m still you re father . John s loud, Angry voice was definitely enough to wake up the children but buffy didn t say anything because once Dean and John got at it there was no stopping the argument until it was officially over. Dean s face took on an agitated, annoyed tone. Maybe Sammy was right about you all of those years..You were never a father..Just look at what happened to Sammy! If you were really his father you wouldn t have let it happen and that s not even mentioning mom! , John s fist tensed at his side, You better watch who your talking to boy! and Don t you dare say anything about you re mother! , John s voice was louder than ever as he now stood an inch away from Dean. Soon John was at the door, the door slammed loudly behind him and Dean sulked to the couch acting as if he was righteous and he d just put his father in his place. Buffy wasn t getting into the middle of it but what dean said..To her she would never take sides but you never get in the middle of a father and a son..Especially this father and son.

While Dean fell back on the couch explaining himself buffy really didn t want to hear about it. You blamed him for your brother..for your mother..what did you expect?! , Dean looked at her with an agitated and annoyed expression and a betrayed one too. Buffy had done what she d vowed never to do..she d gotten in the middle of things but truthfully it wasn t like buffy not to speak her opinion..she d always said exactly what she thought no matter what anyone thought and she knew that Dean felt betrayed and he was angry with her but she was sick of the two of them going after each other the way they did all the time especially with what Dean had said. Neither of them were right but what Dean had said was classless.

.. Are you taking his side? , Buffy sat down on the couch next to dean, No..But did you really think that blaming him for everything that you know wasn t his fault was a way to handle it and he is doing alot..he s trying to reconnect with you and you said you d give him another chance to be a father and be a part of our family and he is trying..he does alot for us,Dean ! Dean just rolled his eyes in buffy s direction. Yeah..Take his side no matter what that s what you always do! , Buffy rolled her eyes in his direction and stood up.. Fine..Be a child, I don t care. I m on Bobby and Celia s side..you know, Our children..and I m sick of hearing the two of you bicker back and fourth..You re not a little boy anymore Dean! . Dean Glared in her direction and walked passed her. At the top of the stairs he gazed back down.. I m going to bed ..he roared. then there was silence and buffy was left in a pitch dark room. She knew maybe she should have let the argument pass but she hadn t been in the mood to play the role of the dutiful wife..She was Buffy..she wasn t the kind of person to keep her mouth shut and she hadn t. Maybe she should ve because somehow she d just made everything worse. But she was right, he was still acting like a boy..But she d married a man. This arguing was really getting on her nerves and it was all attributed to the fact that dean didn t let the past go..But then again she hadn t been there when the boys were growing up..she d never even met Dean s brother so maybe Dean was right..But in buffy s mind. Everything was her business.

But She then edged up the stairs to their bedroom. She knew that from now on she had to stay out of it. climbing into bed in her Yummy Sushi Pajamas..Well they were new pajamas yet she had a pear just like them when she was younger. She climbed into bed. Dean was still awake. I m sorry . he turned to her. it s okay..You just never knew him when me and sammy were kids . Buffy sighed. How about forgiveness and forgetting ? He just nodded his head, Maybe .

Buffy closed her eyes, But she didn t go to sleep. she couldn t. Not after the last nightmare she d had and how real it had been. Not just that. How it made her feel. As if this was just a vacation and the slayer would always be a part of her and there was no way she was going to get Giles to listen to her because as he d told her he had other, more important things in his life now than the tales of the slayer. But she wasn t about to close her eyes and let sleep take her on after the last time she d had a nightmare. Sure, she knew that she couldn t just stop sleeping entirely but she was certain her dream had been rather different than dean s had been since she hadn t sleep walked. It was more like a vision. She d seen something..A man..his eyes..Dark Sapphire eyes..Eyes of evil. The kind of blue she d never experienced or seen before and it made her nervous. Was it just a nightmare or was it the type of nightmare of hers that came true? she didn t know.

But if this man did exist she was certain that she would be forced to be the slayer again and Dean would be forced back into the world of hunting. She wasn t going to worry until the nightmares got more threatening..But it was as if she d known. She d known that eventually someday soon the evil her nightmares were made of would come to pass and she and Dean would have to make a important decision whether they liked it or not. it wasn t just about protecting themselves or the world..It was about protecting their children..Making sure that everything was safe for the future.

But within moments not that she d chosen to she d fallen asleep, Almost as if the darkness..the evil had willed her to fall powerlessly into it s will and she d been given no choice whatsoever and soon she was weak and vulnerable again and all of her power and control had been lost-Lost in the moment it took her to fall completely into nightmares..Vulnerable and weak. Which were two things she d never been except in these nightmares that had completely taken her over and destroyed her. She was thankful it was only a nightmare. But that was the question on her mind just as it had been on Dean s mind as well, Was it really a nightmare at all?

But she d been thankful to find that she didn t have a nightmare that night. She d had a dream about willow. That willow was alive and happy. That Dean s brother Sammy was alive and happy,too and that they were together. it had been such a surreal dream that she wished it could be real but logic told her that if willow was alive she d know. Willow would ve called her or sent her a letter or something and if Sammy was alive, Dean would know. It was just wishful thinking on her part, she figured.

By the next afternoon she d realized that it wasn t just a dream, It had been a premonition. Willow and Sammy were very much alive.

That afternoon Dean had just gotten back from the Garage. His garage. He had started a garage just like his father had when he d been a boy before his whole childhood went up in smoke while for the most part buffy stayed at home having no obligations other than raising 2 five year olds and preparing for a 3rd child, She and Dean were hoping for a little boy they d agreed to name Sammy after Dean s brother. But for a girl it would be willow, Willow after her best friend who had been missing or dead.

It was a beautiful summer day and the kids were outside near their large built in swimming pool in their fenced in backyard swimming. Bobby was an adorable little boy with wavy dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes..He looked more like Dean than buffy but he had buffy s eyes, that was for sure..he wore a pair of yellow and Green swimming trunks and a small necklace that was identical to Dean s necklace Sammy had given him..he d had it made for Bobby s fifth birthday afew weeks ago. While Celia s long dark blonde hair fell down her back and her dark blue eyes gleamed with excitement..Celia looked exactly like Buffy in every way yet John had said that she was more like Dean when he was that age..Well before everything changed. She wore a purple and Blue Princess swimsuit..She stood on the white stone near the pool, smiled towards her brother, Look at me Bobby , she called as she jumped into the pool making a playful splash. Bobby clapped with a wide grin on his face, My turn Celia..Watch me! , Bobby jumped with a happy squeal into the water..It wasn t perfect but it was playful and fun. Buffy had been watching through the sliding glass doors that shown the backyard as the doorbell rang..Dean had been sitting at the kitchen table at the time looking at magazine for a specialty store in the mall while John was in the front room watching some old War picture on the television when the doorbell rang. John Paused the movie and walked acrossed the room to the front door which was a cherry-wood finish with a glass window and white curtains..That part of the house reminded him of the house the boys had been raised in up until that night when mary had been taken from them..Having a place to live..a home. It was something that should be cherished, grateful for. He was grateful he could give dean a home now and grateful he had one to even though they still fought all the time and nothing made sense with them..It was better than what he d had before which was nothing.

He opened the door to see a face he d thought he d never see again..He stood tall, with medium to long brown hair and dark blue eyes..he wore a brown leather jacket and blue jeans and an arrogant expression was on his face, yet there was an expression of shock on his face..as to both of them they both were dead yet now they weren t. John wasn t sure what to say. His son was alive. His youngest son was alive and happy. .. Sam..Sammy? , Sam looked more confused now as a little boy ran up along side him. A little boy with light brown hair and dark blue eyes wearing a blue jean jacket and blue jeans with sewn in colored blocks on the pant legs with Blue and white tennis shoes, Dad..huh..You re alive! We saw you..Me and Dean..You were dead . John s smile was as arrogant as Sam s was.., I was but I guess you could say I got a second chance..Last everyone knew you were in the pit! , Sam shifted alittle as he stood as he gazed at John oddly, I found my way back I guess . Sam hugged his father. He knew if it would ve been any other time he would ve started a fight but so much had changed. He d grown up and maybe in having a family he d realized what it would ve been like if he d lost his wife and the situation was the same as it had been for his father so he d forgiven him. He hadn t said anything about it but he had. I thought you said that Grandpa was dead,Daddy , the little boy peered up at the stranger he d never met before standing in front of his father..Sam chuckled softly.., Jess, this is your grandfather..Dad, this is my son Jess . Sam s introduction was heart-wrenching and meant so much to John as Sam had completely ignored the boys question all together. John kneeled down to meet the small five year old boys gaze.., You re not so old! . The boy smiled delightfully. John was amused and shocked at just how much the boy looked like Sam when he d been little. A cute woman with long red hair pulled into a ponytail and dark brown eyes walked up beside Sam with a pleasant smile on her face. this is Willow, my wife , Sam introduced. Willow smiled trying not to let the mood of the day effect her. She knew that she was a bad person for not coming back sooner. She figured that she wouldn t be wanted her much longer after buffy saw her but she was trying not to let things get to her. She smiled even though..She was holding a small 3 year old baby girl in her arms with long Dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes, she was wearing a pink sweater and blue jeans with pink sandles and smiling with a curious expression from this person to the next. There was a smaller boy of about 4 next to her with short auburn hair and dark brown eyes who wore a grey hoodie and blue jeans with white and blue tennis shoes and broad smile on his face. this is Mary and Alexander , willow introduced the kids to their grandfather. Things seemed perfect. As pretty as a picture but that ended the second they were all in the house..The two boys had found their cousins outside swimming and ran out to join them..of course they were traveling so they had brought a swimsuit and trunks..Soon they were all splashing and laughing in the pool.

Willow had handed the 3 year old girl to John who was happy and proud that there was a Mary in the family. Just the name alone gave him good feelings. But from the time that Buffy and Dean saw Sam and Willow there was hell to pay so John took little Mary and dissapeared so that they could talk in peace without worrying about the children..he went outside to the pool to watch while they swam. He stood Mary at his side and held the little girl s hand. It amazed him just how much the little girl looked like Mary.

Buffy just looked at willow not believing what she was seeing. She had the urge to walk acrossed the room and slap willow straight acrossed the face, she wouldn t have felt bad about it either.

Willow walked over to buffy and before there was even a word out of her mouth buffy glared at her as she single handedly slapped Willow acrossed the face just like she d planned to do in her thoughts and willow just stood their, a look on her face as if she was completely shocked and hadn t expected buffy to do that. Not that she didn t understand. They weren t the same people anymore and whatever friendship they d had had been thrown out the window almost 8 years ago when she d left making all of her friends believe she d been attacked and killed by a demon or a vampire. But she just couldn t go on living a life secondary to the slayer, After losing Tara something in her snapped and she wanted to get away. To get away from everything that connected to that life. She d found something that she hadn t thought she d ever be able to find again..Love..She d never thought that she d be able to love again after losing tara. She loved Sam. She loved Sammy more than she d ever loved anyone or anything in her entire life and she wasn t proud of how she found Sam but she d never regret him or their children.

.. I guess I deserved that , Willow sighed looking back at Buffy, I m sorry okay . Buffy didn t know what to say. All she could think about was all of the nights she d sat there worrying about willow; Hating herself so much because she d failed her and she was the slayer..protecting her best friend was her biggest obligation and she d failed. It proved that she hadn t needed to worry at all because willow had just abandoned them and let them think whatever they wanted to think for years and so what..She was sorry. Did that really change anything. She gazed back at willow, i m not saying that saying your sorry changes anything but why, Willow..why did you do it? , there was hurt in willow s eyes and regret but buffy wanted to know what she did to deserve willow leaving like that. a moment passed and it felt like all eyes were on them. I wasn t the same after Tara died..You know that. I tried to move on with Kennedy but it was not the same and I realized that I needed to get away from everything..Especially saving the world..Too much death and I know it was wrong how I got away But I won t apologize for my husband..My children...If you never forgive me that s okay too but I figured that after a while Dawn was supposed to tell you. I told her to tell you after a while so you wouldn t worry long and I could get far enough away..she d promised that she d tell you acouple months tops . Buffy was outraged to hear that this whole time Dawn had known and she hadn t said a peep.

.. My sister knew about this and she was supposed to tell me? , willow nodded her head. She gave me her her word . Dean stood behind overhearing, Obviously her word doesn t mean much but I knew that already . Buffy was speechless. She wasn t going to take willow s word as gospel. When Dawn came home from her Camping Trip she d ask her about it. If Dawn admitted that was one thing but she wasn t going to listen to a word that came out of Willow s mouth. For all she knw willow was lying to her. They didn t know each other anymore, Much less look at each other as friends. That ship had set sail almost 8 years ago.

..I ll have to talk to my sister before I listen to a word you say! , Buffy turned away from willow and Sam came up to dean with an arrogant smirk on his face, Hey Dean . Dean wanted to act the same way he d always acted with Sammy but so much time had went on. He was upset. Not at Sammy, But at the situation. If he wouldn t have had to make that promise to his brother about not looking for him and having his apple pie life He and Sam wouldn t have had to miss out on so much time, Not just as brothers..But as brothers who would ve led a normal life and not been plagued by hunting all of the time. Maybe that would ve been different and something that would ve been different for them..Better for them but he couldn t think about what could ve been, He had to think about what was.

He nodded, Hey Sammy , he replied trying to sound as if nothing had changed when everything had but he d hoped something like this would happen. this meant his nightmare wasn t real afterall. Sammy wasn t a demon. Sammy was a man who had finally gotten what he d wanted in life..A wife, children..A normal life. Now they had to get used to each other as grownups who led normal lives and not as hunters, That combined with the fact that they hadn t seen each other for almost 8 years..they wouldn t be the same brothers they were overnight. It would take time to get back to the way they were. But Dean was looking forward to getting to know this Sammy even though he hated the situation. It was what it was, he realized.


	3. Chapter 3

Ch.3 The Calm before the storm

The evening was quiet, Yet peaceful. It was the most peaceful night of the year. A year that most would be envious to spend it with the person that they loved. Their was a full moon, Full of hopeful stars. Stars that promised more than just another day without the world coming to an end. It promised Love and beauty. The one thing that had always been out of reach. The one thing that he couldn t grasp. But on a night as beautiful and as Radiant full of promises and hope such as tonight he could be anyone, Have any love..It was a promise that was kept secret between him and the woman he loved and that s what made it special.

They hadn t been back to California in years. The First chance they d been given the opportunity and the gift of living for themselves and not being depended on for the safety of the world..They d once been champions who saved the world but now they lived everyday for themselves...For their family. He may not have had a heart that beat or Air in his lungs and he may not have been alive in the sense of the word but he was living as was his wife of whom had forgotten over the years what living was like..What it was like to live and exist. To be a part of the world and not just a Half Demon, Ex Seer who used to work for the powers that be..Along the road she d forgotten what it was like to be a part of everyday people. They had learned and realized that it was a gift to be a part of humanity and not have to worry about the end of the world.

Afew years ago they d left the life of helping the helpless and fighting the good Fight behind to start a family. They d been married when they had moved to Tree Hill, North Carolina and started a family, Made friends. Began to live. While Cordelia Joined the world of Fashion Modeling..Angel stayed at home with the kids. Taking in the beauty in the world in a way he d never experienced it before..As a father and a husband. He wasn t just an observer anymore, he was a part of it all and he wasn t happy about that just because he had cordelia or was giving the chance..he was grateful because he could give their children the life they deserved because life shouldn t just be about fighting. It should be more than that. He knew that now.

They lived in a really nice house..It wasn t a wealthy house by any means but it was a one of the better houses in the town with 3 stories which were rustic and Victorian white with a matching porch swing. Their were even acouple of rooms that they didn t know what to do with..Guest rooms. Cordelia was pregnant so obviously one of the rooms would be a nursery. It was all fixed up and everything with pastel blues and pinks. Blues if it was a boy..Pinks if it was a girl. Their friends had even told them that it looked like a nursery out out Better Homes . Cordelia had been rather close to Brooke. Angel liked Brooke,too. Although Angel had never thought that Cordelia and Brooke would be friends. They were so much alike it was odd that they would like each other but oddly they did. The first week there Angel had become good friends with half brothers, Lucas and Nathan Scott. Their kids even played together. But a year after he d moved to Tree hill Lucas had taken his pregnant wife, his young daughter, Sawyer and moved to New York for a Job opportunity, He d obviously changed a great deal since then. While Nathan had stayed behind with his wife, Haley and their son, Jamie. As far as he knew they were trying to have another child. They d all become such good friends, But something was changing. Angel could feel it. He knew that Nathan could feel it to. Angel had a better grasp on what it was than Nathan did. But all Nathan could say was that it felt like something bad was about to happen. like the Calm before the storm . Angel couldn t have put it better himself. He felt it ,too. Cordelia would deny it as much as she could but she felt it too, he knew she did.

This was one of them times that he wished he could call up Giles, Or even Buffy to see if they sensed it to. This type of sixth sense wasn t a normal human vibe..It was his vampire instincts kicking in. But not just that, it was the instincts of a person who d had a richer, deeper purpose and had saved the world. He d had this feeling many times before just before Cordelia had a vision..It was just a feeling but he knew it was an accurate one and would eventually be something big..Something important. He d told Nathan to be on guard. Nathan knew about the world that Angel had come from and after getting used to it he d accepted it and he knew what it meant when Angel told him to be on guard. It meant it wasn t just a feeing and it wouldn t just go away miraculously. He could see in Cordelia s eyes that she knew the days of their normal, natural life being married and raising a family were about to be over and she was just waiting, Waiting and expecting something bad to happen. For a while everyone was calling the world they lived in, utopia . Angel did not believe in Utopia. Not even a little bit. Utopia was a fairy tale, He wanted it to be a real thing and not just that but Utopia couldn t exist because as long as their was good, there d be evil.

But he hadn t seen Buffy nor Giles is such a long time. He hadn t seen any of the rest of his friends either. It had been a miracle that they d saved Fred and restored her in her own body after destroying Illyria. It had also been a miracle that Wesley had survived the Arch Duke s attack on him but after that everything had changed..the world had seemed to turn into this picture perfect world where demons weren t enemies and crime just seemed to stop entirely. Their was just no need to stay at Angel Investigations..No need to fight the good fight when there was no fight to be had. So they d all went their separate ways. As far as he knew Buffy and hers had the same thing. He wandered what her Normal life was like. It was in fact, what she d always wanted. But he could feel a darkness rising. Not to mention the dreams..The nightmares, to be exact. He wasn t so sure if cordelia had them but he did. He d never had nightmares like these before. Sure, he d dreamt about his time as Angelus and all of the terrible things he d done and that had been nightmare enough. But he d never had a real nightmare that frightened him as much as this one did. He d been around a very long time, Had seen allot of different things..He d seen evil in it s purest form but yet, Whatever lurked in the darkness waiting to destroy them once again was something he d never experienced before..Maybe this was the thing the night feared, he wandered.

He sat their on the porch swing in the night sitting right next to cordelia. Cordelia had fallen asleep, her hand rested on her swollen abdomen with a peaceful smile on her face as she dozed in the night. Angel enjoyed seeing the peaceful expression on her face as she slept in the silence of the night while upstairs 3 little boys slept in peaceful bliss as the hour struck twelve. Angel found himself intensely gazing at Cordelia s hand that rested proudly on her stomach, Just looking at her stomach angel found himself lost the excitement of being an expectant father again..Wandering if it was going to be a boy or a girl..Wandering who he or she would be. Would they be like the boys..The twins with their happy go lucky excitement, their mischevious nature and the curiosity of a 4-year old or Like Connor and his sensitive, intuitiveness..His hyper and happy sense of fun. As it was, He was proud of his family. Proud of his wife..His twin boys, David and Ethan who were so full of life at the age of 4..So mischevious that sometimes it could get them into big trouble..Both with soft dark blonde hair and dark hazel eyes, in reality they looked more like him. while Connor, afew months older at the age of five with his curiosity and hyper and mischevious sense of fun and excitement..his dark blonde hair that waved just alittle bit..his dark blue eyes that were in every since..his mother s eyes..they were darla s eyes. But in every sense the boys looked like whole brothers and not half brothers. Angel and Cordelia had been given more compliments on the cuteness of the three of them than they could count on both hands. While Angel couldn t help but to be curious and excited to learn and see what this new baby would bring. they were hoping a baby girl. Had already picked names.. William for a boy , Emily for a girl .

But somehow the thoughts of family and a new addition to their family had been interrupted by the troublesome thoughts of a battle lurking in the distance..Of evil being just around the corner. Angel wasn t a fool, he knew that eventually sometime soon he d have to open his eyes and realize that their days as a normal and natural family were numbered. Soon they d be forced back into the life they d run away from and although it wasn t terrible. It was dangerous. It wasn t exactly the life he d wanted to raise a family in.

But still he sat there, just thinking to himself and contemplating what it would take to pack up and leave. To pack everything he owned and dissappear back to the hotel..Back to what the world had been before he d known what it felt like to be a part of it..To live in it. Like a wise friend had once said to him, The hardest thing in the world was to live in it . Then that old saying came back to him as true as ever, Strong is Fighting . He realized it didn t matter what battle, what war it was. It was the strength of the warrior that mattered.

Sunset would be up soon which meant that he needed to get inside. First light would be painful as he may have lived like a man but he was still a vampire with a soul. sliding his arms around cordelia he lifted her up into his arms, As if he was holding one of the boys or maybe a small baby. She didn t wake up..Just stayed fast asleep as he carried her into the house and up the stairs eventually into the master bedroom with a large King-sized bed in the center against a wall with a dark blue comforter to ready and willing to be wrapped around her in comfort and safety. Once wrapped in the blankets..she shifted in position..her breathing was heavy and she seemed panicked. Angel sat down beside her on the bed like he d done many times just watching her sleep, he brushed the dark brunette hair away from her face.., It s just a nightmare cordelia , his whispers didn t grant him any acknowledgment. She was in too deep a sleep to even know that he was there and there was something dark, something evil clawing at her, tormenting her. Just the realization that it was a nightmare and she d soon wake up and all would be fine was enough to make it okay. He slid away and around the bed to his side, dressed in black he didn t even think to undress tonight or even put on a pair of shorts and a wife-beater as he usually slept in, he d been ready hours ago to just close his eyes and let the night carry him away and seconds later while under the warmth of the blanket that s exactly what he did.

#2

It was almost as if he was still awake, yet he wasn t. He knew that this had to be a dream come to light because nothing else would make sense. He was walking in what seemed twilight. Darkness was all around him with only the haunting, Florescent glow of the moon guiding his way. It wasn t the haunting scene or the darkness, Not even the moon s shimmer of light that made him sense that this was a place of true evil. It was something much worse that brought fourth every fear he had-It was himself. What he knew he was deep down inside, Not just the vampire in him but the part of him that was Angelus. The part of him that was a truly evil..The side of him which was a monster. But this was a nightmare like no other. A nightmare that could make him bolt awake screaming for redemption. Redemption that he himself knew could and would never come.

But what was weird was that in the nightmare or whatever it had been he d seen things..Familiar things. Signs that he couldn t understand what they meant. But he knew that they were important. He knew that they meant something and he d wandered if this was what it had been like to have a vision yet not a vision..Wasn t it sort of a premonition? he wandered. He d never really had a vision except for that one time when Cordelia had passed on the visions to him. When she d practically been dead. But something miraculous happened after they saved the world and destroyed the circle of the black thorn, Sure they d made it so the senior partners didn t have as much power on earth yet Wolfram and hart and their lawyers still did their best to prove that the senior partners were still out there. That they still existed and their army was man and their power was masterful but without the circle of the black thorn they were weakened, Even Lindsey McDonald had claimed that. He d been shot by a shape-shifter who d posed as Lorne and took out Lindsey or they thought they had killed Lindsey. He d been in the hospital for weeks but he d eventually recovered..2 bullets were retrieved yet shockingly no bullet had been so deep or so powerful that it had taken him out for good. The powers that be knew that Lindsey was alive..That he d survived their plan to have him killed and in knowing they had sent out every last Liason or vessel they could control to take him out for good. Shockingly he was an asset to angel and was helping him so in return, Angel was going to protect him from the Senior Partners. Even Lilah Morgan herself was back, With valuable information that could change everything and something so powerful, So evil that it could bring Lilah Morgan to him..he still couldn t get used to that. He wasn t sure whether he even wanted to work with her. But Lilah had always seemed straight forward. She worked for the Senior Partners but now that she d escaped hell with some valuable information about a prophesy they wanted her dead, Angel didn t give a damn about saving Lilah. She deserved everything that she got and more. But if she had valuable information. That was another thing. But of course it was rule of thumb that they weren t Angel investigations anymore and they couldn t just go busting into his house whenever they wanted. He wasn t just a vampire with a soul anymore and didn t only have a destiny..He had a family. A wife he loved very much of whom the senior partners had given back to him as a reward for saving the world and putting the senior partners back in their corner so to speak as they couldn t actually make him a real boy as he d signed that priveledge over in blood but they could give him the next best thing..An existence beyond Blood and Sacrifice..Beyond saving the world. And that s just what he had. A family. Whenever he met with Lilah it was nowhere near his home or even Tree Hill. He usually met her somewhere in between Wilmington and Charlotte which was afew miles away as he didn t trust her but yes, she had valuable information about something bad that was going to happen and he d rather be prepared than be kept in the dark about everything, Sure he was sure that cordelia didn t know that he knew that there was something more to these dreams but he was acting not as a hero or a champion..Not as a vampire with a soul..But as a husband..As a father. He was keeping his family safe.

But he d since began to trust Lindsey in the time he had become a father and started a family..Lindsey had actually started to become somebody that counted and do the right thing. Do the one thing that Angel had been waiting ever since he met Lindsey for him to do. For him to be strong and stand up against the senior partners and Wolfram and hart and be the one in control for once, he d joined angel. Had stood tall by angel for almost 8 years. It was odd and something Angel could never have believed if he hadn t been there but Lindsey had somewhat replaced the friendship he d had with Wesley as he d become someone that could be trusted and not a lackey for Wolfram and hart and the senior partners but Not just Lindsey his relationship was a bit different towards Spike as well. While it was mostly still the same, personally he did trust spike alone with his children. Spike had become uncle spike from the time the three boys were born and Angel realized that spike was harmless, Not just that..But he had a soul now and had helped him save the world..He d helped him destroy the circle of black thorn and they had Buried friends and enemies together after the battle had been over and they d gotten Fred back..Well, Spike had gotten Fred back. As Cordelia had been Angel s reward..Just to have her in his life was worth everything, Even the signing away the shan-Shu prophesy just as he d never seen Spike the way he saw him when he had Fred in his life..he d never openly admit it Spike or even to Fred but he d realized that spike was worthy of a soul even though he d deny it if anyone ever told spike he d said that. But he and spike had always had a brothers love/hate relationship. Sure spike annoyed the hell out of him and in the past he d always thought of spike as an evil, Annoying pest but when push came to shove he couldn t kill him. They d proved that theory when he d had the option to crush the amulet when spike had been a spook..A ghost and he couldn t do it. He d almost done it but when it came down to it he just couldn t whether he d been attacked by a evil necromancer or not. He knew that..Spike knew that too. But respecting who he was now that he had a soul..This was the closest thing the two vampires had ever come to actually liking each other but when it came down to it..Spike and Angel s relationship would always be more complex than most could understand as their mere existence was something that most couldn t understand either.

But that led him back to the signs that were right in front of him. Most would consider it odd that he looked at it as a reality and not a nightmares. His mind knew that it was just that; A nightmare. but all of his vampire instincts told him that while it could be a nightmare it was more of a premonition..he just kept thinking..I m not a seer like cordelia..and I m definitely not a prophet. why am i seeing this? . Sure, he d said out loud but there d been no answer..Not even an echo. That was one thing in which that he found a bit odd. Deep down inside he felt the urge..The urge of a innocent little boy that wanted to run, Run to find protection and safety. A feeling he probably hadn t felt since he d been human and he he couldn t even remember that feeling much less know that he felt it. He knew that he must ve felt it as every young, innocent child felt weak, vulnerable and scared at some point so his human self must have,too.

Every time he had one of these nightmares it was always the deep and dark forest. As if there was a link to this evil and this specific place. But that was too easy. Angel knew that he must ve handpicked the forest because when it came down to it the darkest of evil originated in the dark and haunted forest..It had been a story he d heard about for centuries. he could vaguely remember a young servant girl at a tavern when he d been Liam, A human man telling him about it and at least a century later, Darla had told him tales she d picked up from town to town. A mystical and haunted Forest in Romania. The old story went on and on. It was the a urban legend that allot of people believed..Especially other Vampires and some Demons he d ran into had believed it as well that this supposed forest was home to the most worst and horrid monsters and evil that ever existed..Monsters that Lucifer himself would turn away out of hell. Angel had never believed it..Had believed it to be nothing but nonsense. But then again, he didn t believe in allot of the Lore and urban Legends that most people believed in. Afew weeks ago a woman had come to him claiming that Bloody Mary was after her. Angel had tried hard..Very hard not to laugh or come off rude because he didn t believe in it. To him things like Blood Mary and the bookman were myths.. Were there creatures and spooks who copied their tales for their own evil? , Of course there was. But the real thing..He didn t believe in that. Most of the time you were dealing with an element of it or a spirit that was obsessed in urban legends. but he sposed that he could be wrong,too. After all, Some didn t believe in Vampires and he was real. So maybe it wasn t so hard to believe after all. Not that that made him a true believer. But it was possible.

Darla had once taken him to the forest in Romania. Sure, he d been Angelus and not had a soul then but he still remembered. It was the same forest he was seeing now in his nightmares. He knew because there was no forest in the world like that one in Romania and sure he hadn t wanted to believe in it..he didn t believe everything that everyone posed as a urban legend just as he d never believed anything that came from the the brothers Grimm . Of course he did believe that there were stories. Real life stories that inspired the fairy tales and urban legends but they were never as glamorous or supernatural as the stories most liked to tell. But this, This forest was real. He hadn t believed until Darla had taken him there, to the forest in Romania. A forest that once you were inside you felt as if it swallowed you whole. The experience of being in that forest was more than just being there. It was the feeling of being a part of the forest and not just walking through it. As if it had a piece of you,too. Signs of broken down cars..A bus. A bus so haunted and abandoned..a bus that had left a trio of rotting corpses, Not much more than bones now from old, forgotten long ago time, A time when children had been massacred on a field trip and left for dead in the haunted forest as proof that the theories were fact. Just the way that bus had made him feel, and he d been evil. He d realized then that he wasn t the most evil thing out there. That this forest was full of the dark things. The things that not even hell could accept and this evil. Evil dark creature or man..he was making them see this forest for a reason and that s why angel couldn t believe in utopia. That was why he couldn t realize and accept that Lilah was wrong about this prophesy or that Lindsey s theories about evil still being out their were wrong. They were right and he knew it not just simply because of these dreams or nightmares he was having but because he could feel it with every instinct he had and he knew something was coming and until he was certain of what how big this could get..he d keep Cordelia in the dark..She was pregnant and this was the last thing she needed. Sure, he was most certain that when she found he was keeping this from her they d have a fight to end all fights but he knew he was doing the right thing. He was still a vampire with a soul. But as long as Cordelia was pregnant and weakened, She was no longer a seer or a higher being for the powers that be..She was just a vulnerable, Pregnant woman whose only worry should be about her unborn child and taking care of the three boys they had as far as angel was considered she wouldn t have to worry about anything else. She d never asked when he d had to go meet Lilah somewhere for details and information and he was glad. He wouldn t lie to her about it, If she outright asked him he d tell her what was going on because there was allot of things angel was..But he wasn t a liar. But she d been really tired lately and did most of her time sleeping or managing the twins. While last week Connor had started his first day of school and usually was home by noon..Angel would drop Connor off, The five year old boy was so happy about being at school, not to learn things. But to be around people and make friends. He d already made a friend already who went to most of his classes, his name was James Lucas Scott..Jamie was what most people called him. It also helped that Angel was close to Nathan who was Jamie s father and Cordelia had a friendship going with the boys mother, Haley. they were pretty close. Even though Cordelia was a bit closer with Brooke, she still considered Haley a friend. Not that they got along with everybody..But they were pretty close with the Scott s and The Baker s.

One person in the town that Angel could and would not tolerate was Victoria Davis who was Brooke s mother. He couldn t understand how such a sweet person could come from someone like that.

His thoughts faded as he entered an area in the forest..An area past a magnificent Castle, An old Cabin, and the Bus which seemed to be whispering to him of evil, haunted things. He ignored it. He wasn t an ordinary person. Not ordinary at all. He was a vampire..Soul or not. He was and he d been what the night feared so why shouldn t he belong in a place as dark and vicious as this. But he knew the answer..It was his humanity. A place like this and things that lived here had no humanity and that s why they had a home in such a dark place as this.

But where he stood now was a around Grassy patch with Dark, Stone Caves surrounding it. But could he help if the caves took on a haunted glow that that the moon cast on it. The moon seemed to make everything which was already evil and vicious worse. Angel stood just to the side of the grassy patch feeling as if he d been there in that exact spot once before..It was true, he d been there before. Almost two centuries ago he and Darla had stood in this very spot which was the reason he d wished to never return to this horrible place again..Even as Angelus he d felt the power, Felt evil beyond his own need or recognition, he d felt that that power could take him over..Destroy him. Angelus even, had his own way of doing things. He wasn t interested in a middle man, so to speak and this evil was far more compelling and vicious than Angelus, himself. It was more than just a soulless monster..It was all hell in one being so much that not even hell itself welcomed this monster or wanted it in Lucifer s graces. But Darla had wanted the power..had wanted to feel it growing deep inside of her as she took on the world..Angelus had left her there and hadn t seen her for acouple of years where he d met her France..It was almost as if she didn t even remember Romania or the Forest. It was odd. But Angelus hadn t wasted time on it..he d wanted a good a massacre and that night that s just what they had, they d soon after that Traveled to England where he met a little English girl who he d torment and torment until she turned completely insane..On the day she was take her orders as a nun and lead a life of praise for god and her faith..Angelus had turned her into a vampire..That woman became Drusilla. Angel remembered very clearly everything he d done as Angelus, Especaially what he d done to Drusilla and his biggest fear was of himself..the things he could do, the evil that existed deep inside of himself which was the vampire in him..the side that was Angelus through and through.

In the grassy patch, he thought that he was seeing things..He saw..Cordelia..Pregnant and happy..she d spread out a light pink blanket down on the grass complete with a picnic basket full of food. Fried chicken, Potato Salad, apple sauce..and yes..A pint of pig s blood for him. She was so beautiful, so real. her long dark brown hair fell in waves down her back and dark, sensitive brown eyes..eyes that had seen and experienced much more than a girl in late twenties should ve experienced yet in angel s eyes, it made her radiant, beautiful beyond words..he could see children playing in the far distance of the grass under halo d moon which gleamed down on them, Not like the sunshine that fell on a beautiful day or a romantic picnic day but a shadow cast over small children just before the unexplainable happened..All three of them holding hands..The twins in matching blue tshirts and jeans with their white and blue tennis shoes which lit up as they moved, Connor in his red and black tshirt and blue jeans and his black and red tennis shoes which also lit up as he moved..they all held hands as they skipped around and played with the innocence what they were were..Innocent Children.

He saw himself..But it wasn t himself he saw. It was Angelus. But not even the Angelus of today..It was of yesteryear. long, Scruffy brown hair that fell to his shoulders, the tights and formal old school clothes of the mid-1800 s and Sadistic, evil grin that was all Angelus. Angel couldn t move, they weren t really there. If somebody would ve told him that he wouldn t agreed, but in that moment logic didn t apply because he was there in every since of the word and in his mind they were real..Everything he saw was real. He wasn t thinking as a hero..A vampire..He was thinking as a father..As a husband. The terror he felt in the defining moment before Angelus face turned into a demonic reverie of yellow eyes and fangs, Sinking his teeth poetically into Cordelia s neck..Feeding until there was nothing left to feed on as angel was forced, forced to watch as his wife, eventually his 3 boys died in agony and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He tried to move, tried to run and save them forgetting that it was a nightmare and it wasn t real. But he couldn t move. His body was frozen there, forced to watch this torture play out over and over again. In the stillness of the dark and haunting forest he could hear whispers.., This is who and what you are..You re a monster..Wesley was right when he said you d eventually them all..You will! and the last thing you ll hear is the sound of you re families agony as they die in horror , Angel tried to ignore the voice. Tried to pretend like he didn t hear it. Like it was nothing. But he d heard it loud in clear. It was a voice without any humor..without a hint of humanity..A voice as cold and dark..yet haunted as the forest itself. A Voice as Cold and Dead as the soulless, hell-spawned monsters that roamed Hell but this wasn t hell, it was close. But it wasn t Hell, he d been to hell. This monster possessed the most powerful thing there was in the world beyond humanity, Beyond the world itself, something ancient that had been brought straight from maybe, hell itself.

Angel realized in that moment he was must ve been the gate keeper of the forest and a dark and evil force worse than the darkest pit in hell..the one true monster that Lucifer himself could fear.

In that moment all Angel wanted to do was wake up. To wake up and get back to his wife..his boys..his unborn baby. Once he was awake..Alert..Everything would be alright and then he could process this not just as a father or a husband..But as a champion..As A vampire with a soul who had a destiny. Because all he could see right now was evil..Evil and darkness that was willing to destroy the one thing he d sacrifice himself to save..His family.

Seconds later he d opened his eyes to find that the world hadn t gone away. he was safe. His family was safe. And that the dark thing that haunted his nightmares was nowhere in sight. But he knew that it existed..that this man was real. He could feel it from the second he d sat up in bed and felt how blessed he was to be able to sit up and realize that his nightmare wasn t true. The real horror of it was that it could very easily happen. If Angelus ever got control again he d destroy everything he d built and loved..And Angel would be left to pick up the pieces of his shattered existence. maybe that s what made his nightmare more terrifying than any other was it wasn t just a nightmare that you could wake up from and realize that it was just a bad dream and nothing like that could or would ever happen..he knew that the darkness, the evil that this monster had created inside his mind was real and that s what gave him such control was because he didn t just play with people s dreams and scare them alittle..He knew them, Analyzed them..and once he found their greatest fear..He could destroy them. But he wasn t just a Dream Sorcerer , Dreams were not this monsters game. That would make him more juvenile than something that was locked out of hell. Angel wasn t so sure what his game was..But he was pretty sure that if anybody knew it was Lilah Morgan, he was pretty sure that she held the key to finding out what laid dormant in their nightmares when the world went black..and he d do whatever he had to do to keep that nightmare from never happening for real.

#3

The night was quiet. More quiet than Any other. It seemed at times to be the calm before a storm. Most Children would question what it was all about. But those children weren t as intuitive nor as knowledgeable about the end of the world and being a champion as Connor was. Sometimes he d overhear things his parents would say. Sure, Cordelia really wasn t his Mama but to him she was. His mother died before he d been born so as far as he knew, Cordelia was his mother. Spiky had slept with him last night. Spiky was a large, Male Labrador Retriever with Light fawn fair and dark, sensitive if brown eyes. To Connor the dog had more personality than most people would give a dog credit for having. Whenever he and his father would claim that the dog really could smile Cordelia would just smile, Sweetie..Dog s can t smile..It s impossible but I bet he wants to! . But his father believed him. Angel had snickered, A full, silly grin on his lips.., I believe you buddy ..He d said this to him in a whisper.

But this morning Spiky was still fast asleep on his bed. Connor had his own captains bed with shades of blue, Green, and yellow that covered his blankets in bright Florescence. Just the way he liked it as the second he opened his eyes he d see himself surround in beauty and color and the nightmares he had wouldn t be so bad..he d be safe in his colorful world where he knew monsters couldn t really exist, yet he also vaguely remembered a time when they d lived among monsters and his father was a champion..A hero. He d told his best friend, Jamie, My Daddy s a superhero...Kinda like Wolverine or Iron Man! .. Jamie would just smile with a happy go luck grin, My daddy s in the NBA! , the Little boy would boast.

The small boy stood their in the stillness of the night stumbling around in the darkness after Dawn, his dark blonde hair tousled in what Cordelia called bed head , his dark blue eyes gazed around a type of unseen innocent that could only be seen in a child his age. He was scared, Scared of going back to sleep. This time when he d awakened the bright, happy colors had done nothing to protect him..Nor had the dog who had whined and yelped in his own revery of dreams. connor wandered, Could dogs have nightmares too? . He stumbled down the hallway feeling lost..As if he truly hadn t woke up and was still lost and dreaming. But he wasn t in that forest alone and scared so he thought he was safe, but he still was shaking inside. A dark figure walked towards him. If it hadn t been for the plump figure or how she held her stomache with a protective pride he d been scared, but seeing who it was he wasn t scared in the least.

Cordelia took connor s hand and turned on a tall white floor lamp in the hallway so she could see the small boy and connor could see her. She kneeled down as well as she could for being afew months along.., Bad dream? , a pained expression crossed connor s face as he solemnly nodded his head letting her take his hand and lead him back to his bedroom. She noticed as acrossed the hallway the twins were sleeping soundly on their bunk-beds. She noticed also how connor was shaking in terror. she understood that he was having the nightmares. Angel didn t know, she d talk to him today about it.

Once the small boy was sitting down on the bed she leaned down as well as she could to see the outline of worry and terror in his dark blue eyes, A sensitivity was in his eyes that she almost never saw in anyone s eyes other than Angel.

.. Mama, I had a bad dream..Do I have to go back to to bed..Please don t make me..', he stammered for a second trembling in fear,'Maybe I can sleep with you and daddy.. , Cordelia stopped abruptly taking a deep breath as she turned away but then turned back to the small boy who seemed terrified as he clinged onto the only mother he d ever known.., I m going downstairs to have some hot chocolate so you can go and get into bed with your daddy , She watched as the boy climbed out of bed, Trailed by Spiky as the Labrador Retriever followed almost at out the knowledge of where he was going and most days Spiky slept at the end of the bed with Cordelia and Angel. Cordelia wasn t much on the dog, Not really. But Spikey was Angel s pride and Joy.

The second Connor and Spiky was out of sight, Cordelia made her way down the oak stairs to the kitchen where she could make a large cup of hot chocolate. The baby was kicking and sometimes something hot and sweet could soothe the baby..She wanted to say, her ..But she and angel had chosen to not learn the sex of the baby until the baby was born,of course. As the second they could they d found out early that they were going to have identical twin boys and they had known 7 months in that they were going to name them Ethan and David..But she knew that things weren t exactly normal and she, just as Angel believed didn t think that the world was living in utopia, especially with all of the nightmares that everybody seemed to share. Even Haley had told her just 3 days ago after she d come home from the hospital after that big coma thing that her coma nightmare had been terrifying. it mimicked everything the same nightmares that she and Angel had..The same nightmares that Connor d been having too. Obviously thought Brooke didn t dream. But by the expression her husband, Julian had on his face..She wasn t so certain that he wasn t having the nightmares..Although Brooke s mother had made a jab at brook by saying.. No wander he has nightmares..he s married to Brooke Davis ..Cordelia couldn t understand how Brooke could have such a mean person for a mother..yet she tried to understand her. She d been a cruel person once,too. But there was no getting angel to understand. I don t even think she has a soul , angel had told her just the other day.. There s good in everybody , Cordelia had replied. But Angel had smiled. Angel had been thinking..some people yes. maybe she has good in her. But there was one man that angel thought of when he thought of soulless and that was a man he d met back in the 80 s. Angel had been trying to help some girl out and this man had used his business to destroy angel s mission to help her..The name of the business was LuthorCorp..and the man behind it was none other than Lionel Luther.

But moments after she d stepped down the stairs and into the large, Dark kitchen, A cold seemed to wrap all around her. But it wasn t the sort of cold that you would expect early in the morning, It wasn t weather at all. It was almost as if something sinister was watching her..She wasn t a medium but she d almost bet money it was a spirit. And it sure wasn t phantom Dennis, That was for sure. Sometimes she found herself missing phantom Dennis. Not because she was a scared person, she wasn t. She lived in Sunnydale her entire life..Sunnydale had been on top of a real, actual hellmouth so fear had never been Cordelia s problem. But Phantom Dennis had always had a way about him. A way of making her feel comforted without needing to be a real person at all. Like a friend you couldn t see or hear, but you knew was there. Phantom Dennis had had her back when the visions had gone south and she d been taking all of that medicine just before she d become half demon..He d ran her bath..even comforted her with a towel when she d had that paralyzing vision that had delivered welts and boils and especially now when she was halfway through her pregnancy. She had no real proof that this pregnancy was any different than the way it had been with the twins. She d been even bigger than this when she d been pregnant with them..And she was pretty big. But it wasn t something somebody whispered to her, it was something that she instantly knew. That this baby was important. she knew that this baby was going to be a girl,too. Although Angel was insistent about not knowing until the baby was born. Cordelia feared she would not be around much after the baby was born. It was just a bad feeling she d had. Almost as if this baby would be the last noble thing she d bring to the world. She hadn t told angel this. What was the point. He d get upset. And then he d drag all of them back into the world of the supernatural..The world where the powers that be and the senior partners reigned like Kings, they d vowed to raise their family differently. But deep down, just like angel..Cordelia believed and silently knew that they wouldn t be able to ignore the signs of the apocalypse much longer. It was inevitable. They d be going back to that world whether they wanted to or not. The fate of the world would depend upon it.

But neither of them were about to want to believe those signs because they wanted this life so badly. There was angel who d never been given the opportunity to be like normal people and have a family not have to fight the war; the battles. Then there was a very much pregnant Cordelia that feared the coming of her new baby what it could mean for her..then there was the supernatural element that mysteriously threatened to drag everything back into hell. It wasn t pretty, but that was the world they d come from, wasn t it?

But everybody seemed to be having these nightmares, Now there kids,too. Cordelia hoped the twins weren t have the dreams as well as they were alittle bit younger than Connor and it wasn t alright for children to have dreams such as these..it wasn t even okay. But there had to be a reason they were all having these dreams. Angel had even said that he sensed that Luke was having them,too. Not by something that he d said..it was a fear..A terror. In short, Angel had smelled it all over him..cordelia had wandered if that was the reason Lucas had turned into such an ass.

Although as far as Lucas was concerned Angel seemed to think there was more to it than just a nightmare. They d all been having nightmares yet Luke was the only one who had changed his personality completely. Angel didn t need to use any of his Vampire senses or abilities to know that it was more than that...Something more was going on. Maybe it didn t even have anything to do with the nightmares or an upcoming apocalypse. Maybe Fame had changed him in the long run and it wasn t supernatural. Angel had been around for centuries which was plenty long enough to know that not everything dealt in the supernatural..some things had to do with normal things as well. He d went from a Tree Hill townie that everyone knew and respected with a metaphor for the right and noble thing to do and loving heart, almost to the point he could be naive to the most richest man in New York..One of the most famous Television Creator/Director/Writer in the business as he had a show that was on the CW network..It was based off of his book, An unkindness to Ravens and was the muse for his series, The ravens which was the biggest show..had broken records it was so big..Won several awards and had one 3 emmy s while already in it s fourth season..It was the biggest ratings the CW had seen in years. Angel watched the show religiously and would always point out with a full voltage grin, You know who is his muse for Holly is..So definitely Haley! , Cordelia had always found his amusement with the series tiring...She hadn t been so into a network scripted show since On your own was canceled. Although she was an avid fan of , How I met your mother . She was still convinced that the red-head couldn t act her way out of a paper bag..But Barney Stinson was her hero .

She d sit there for hours whenever the thanksgiving marathon came on and watch endlessly as Barney seduced one girl after the next. Every time Barney would say Suit up , Cordelia would laugh out Loud. Angel would walk by with a smirk. Angel believed that how I met your mother was the most annoying and irritating show ever put to film. He hadn t always watched any t.v. but since being a husband, A father he d found himself getting into it more than he ever thought he would..He even watched, Across the Creek , which was similar to The ravens , yet was more of a family drama than a direct teen show or soap. But Cordelia would just sit there watch How I met your mother and she d get excited every time Barney would have one of his moments of, Legen-Wait for it-Dary! , She d find herself laughing like a foolish teenage girl. Other than that she did watch the home shopping network. Had gotten acouple of rings off of there. Rings Angel had about Fainted at when he d found how much she d maxed her credit card out with..Rings that Angel believed were the ugliest things he d seen, And he d seen allot of ugly in the 250 plus ears he d been around. Is it my fault that they won t give you a credit card and they ll give me one?! , Angel had almost went into his vampire face with frustration as she d almost spent 3 thousand dollars one one right..2 thousand on the other ring. But then again they weren t hurting for cash either. Cornelia, instead of going for an acting career that if you ever heard or saw cordelia act was so far out of reach it was funny..She d become a Top model on Runway and was on all of the popular magazines. Angel had been fine with helping afew helpless victims of the supernatural from time to time as it game him time to stay behind and be there for 3 little boys who loved having their father around 24 hours a day.

But Angel received high profile customers when it came to Angel investigations as he ran it alittle outside of Charlotte about the same spot he met with Lilah when he needed information..he d rented out a storage facility there that was just good enough to help with clients and meet with people. he never took a client home for fear that the supernatural could follow him and his life as a father and a husband came first before the world the supernatural..the world that he had come from in the first place. The times when he had to leave in the middle of the afternoon their 3 boys would happily go over to Nathan and Haley s and play with Jamie. Of course Nathan had just gotten back as he d hurt his back due to the latest basketball game and they were unsure if he was going to be able to play anymore professional basketball so both Haley and Nathan were home, The only time Haley wasn t around was when she d go to Red Bedroom Records to either help Mia with her music or consider putting out another album, herself.

Angel and Cordelia both thought that Haley and Nathan would have to be Crazy to actually want to take on 2 4 year old twin boys and a five year old, All three were just as Rambunctious as their own five year old son, Jamie. The twins maybe had more energy than all of them combined yet Haley was a slavedriver and missed nothing even though Nathan appeared to be lenient and understanding with the kids.

The only one who ever really came to the house or hung around them was Lindsey as Lindsey knew what Angel s world was like..A shocking twist: Lindsey was Envious of what Angel had. He d said once, If my father had been alittle bit more like you and not a ant to be stepped on when times got hard and we were left with nothing..Not even the clothes on our backs, I doubt I would ve ever got involved with Wolfram and hart! . Angel couldn t say that he had experience as his human father had been hard and strict..But he hadn t been weak and his family definitely hadn t been poor. Poor people don t have a servant, that s how he knew. But he could tell that Lindsey had issues with his father..Issues that he could never deal with sense the man was dead..That was one thing that Angel understood. The issues Angel had with his father could and would never be dealt with because Darla had been right so long ago after he d been turned..As a vampire he could kill, destroy..Even torture but the one thing he couldn t change, The one thing he couldn t fix what how it was with his father and when he did remember things from his human life it bothered him that it had to end that way because in the end he wasn t even sure about how his father really felt about him. He tried, tried hard to make his relationship with the boys special and heartfelt. He never wanted them to feel the way he felt about his father.

Although it was even odd for Angel to trust and look at Lindsey as more of a friend when so long Lindsey had been just a pathetic lawyer..A wanna be follower of the senior partners and Lindsey still annoyed him beyond reason but Lindsey had finally taken that step to being good..Almost 8 years ago Lindsey had put Wolfram and hart behind him and become a more honest person..Like whistler had told angel once..someone that mattered. So Angel respected and trusted him because he d proven himself. Aside from Cordelia, Lindsey was the only one from his old life that he still had any contact with as that had been why Lindsey had become a friend but it hadn t happened over night..It had taken at least 3 years to build trust..Another 2 years to build a friendship not that it had been perfect at first but he d respect what Lindsey had done with his life, Just as he respected how spike had rose to the occasion. the only other person he had any contact with from time to time was Fred and that was only because Fred and spike were together and through Fred Angel had realized spike had been made better for it. Yeah, it was true that he had a soul but unlike buffy angel knew that having a soul meant nothing if you were a terrible man underneath it all and Fred had given spike a reason to believe, a reason to love. Like he d referenced before, once to cordelia..If she told anybody especially spike he d deny it and say that spike was still an ambarrassement. Not that they were buddies even now But he d gained a secret respect for the vampire he d become.

Cordelia had poured her a tall glass of chocolate milk. Sometimes they bought alittle chocolate milk as a treat for the boys as chocolate was a favorite..Especially for Ethan who would beg and plead loving everything that had anything to with chocolate yet they didn t like the results of any of them on that much sugar, While Ethan s twin brother,David always had to have orange juice with breakfast and Lunch..he d have it with dinner if cordelia or angel hadn t pulled him a tall glass of milk, milk in which David hated and complained the whole time he drank. While oddly enough Connor wasn t picky about food, he liked everything. He d eat donuts for every meal if it were an option and like Fred had been, the boy was crazy over tacos. Hated Tyfood or Chinese.

But while she sat their at the kitchen table sipping her chocolate milk cordelia had plenty of time to think. Think about how long it would really be before they were pushed back into the apocalypse and what there lives had been like when Connor had been just afew months old and twins hadn t even been born..before she and Angel had been married. It was weird to think back to what life had been like when it had just been Angel investigations and The hyperion . But it wasn t bad either. It was just a time of war and battle. They d been heroes and saved the world. Because of them she knew allot of people were still alive and happy and she had loved serving the powers that be. She d loved being a part of something bigger even if she loved her new life more. She loved being a mother..Being a wife. Even more than that, being a famous Model was surely one of her favorite things..Maybe even better than being a famous Actress..Cause, Still famous .

But it wasn t because of them that going back to that life was a problem. They d never wanted to raise the boys in that kind of environment. Their was so much evil..Too much death. Maybe the normal, everyday world wasn t completely safe but it was a lot safer than the world they d come from and that enough for the two of them, or at least it had been. She knew Angel and she knew that he had to know that something was going down and that soon they d be forced to go back and Be the Champions they d been, they d forced to go back to what their life had been and in doing so they had to bring their children into that life which was something they weren t so apt to want to do.

She doubted even Connor remembered how it had been..He d been nearly 8 months old when they d moved away from L.A. to begin a new, normal life. He couldn t remember what those first few months had been like or how everything in creation had been after him, most kids couldn t remember their first few months of life yet he had a good enough memory as he could remember his first year in this house..They d moved into Tree hill when Connor was barely a year old and had certain, vivid memories from that year of course he couldn t remember everything in picturesque detail. There were certain things he could do and Cordelia, Even Angel had wandered if it was attributed to the fact that he was the child of 2 vampires Just as Cordelia was certain the twins had gifts of their own due to the fact that Angel was a vampire and Cordelia was a half demon/ Higher Being. But something told her that this baby she was carrying was much more important than just that and would walk away with a good percentage of her abilities as a higher being. In her Nightmares she was fighting til the death to make sure that the baby was born as their was a force, A dark figure with the darkest, most haunting Sapphire eyes and he was willing to make sure that the baby was never born. She knew that her baby was going to be a girl because she believed in the nightmares , Looked at them as visions in a sense. Evil or not, They were very telling.

She knew that when the baby was born she d be named Emily Grace and just like the twins and Connor she d bare the last name of Angel . To Cordelia Chase it was a priviledge to use Angel s name and be a part of him in any way let alone be somebody he held dear..A child of his own flesh and blood. She and Angel had already agreed that if it were a girl it would atomically be named Emily Grace, While if it were a boy his name would be Logan Michael . But Cordelia knew without a doubt that she d bring a beautiful, and powerful little girl into the world and she knew without even contemplating that this little girl s birth was maybe just as foretold as Connor s own existence and that in the Newborn s blood lie the answer to a on-going battle..Some of which she knew, some of which she didn t. ever since she had gotten pregnant again the powers that be were unable to communicate completely with her as she d learned when she d been pregnant with the twins, The powers couldn t communicate with a sick or disabled Host for if they did it would put that person in danger. She could lose the baby if the powers were to intervene so instead they d been using a different host. She didn t know who that person or persons were..But she trusted the powers that be. Maybe she had not always trusted them but over the years they d earned her trust and proven themselves more times than she could name. Of course Angel would always say how he wished he knew who was being given the powers..Said that it really puts them in the dark not knowing who was seeing what, Or even especially what the were seeing. But Miraculously, Cordelia had sudden unshakable trust in the powers that be yet Cordelia wasn t much a grump or Hormonal mess as most woman were when they were pregnant, Sure she could be a touch demanding but she wasn t mean or insensitive towards angel or the boys. Angel had found that odd with her normal personality he d said he figured she d be a monster during her pregnancy..A comment that had earned him a night sleeping on the couch. But he d been shockingly joined by Spiky, His blonde fur soft, his sweet brown eyes sensitive and ready to be man s best friend in the blink of an eye. Most would consider the dog Connor s dog since it had been a birthday present for his 5th birthday not too long ago and whenever Connor was around, That dog was always there. Yet when it came down to it the dog was mostly Angel s dog. The dog would bite or growl at anybody who threatened Angel or The Boys..Mostly Spiky hated Cordelia and it was likewise as cordelia had preferred to get a cat. Connor had complained, A Cat is a little girl s pet not a boys! , Angel had all but fallen down laughing knowing the only reason that Connor thought that was that he d heard that Friends of theirs, Peyton had given her daughter a orange kitten last Christmas. Obviously Sawyer had named the kitten Sassy after a classic, Disney movie from the 90 s. Ofcourse whenever Angel was on the phone with Lucas you could hear him bitching from a mile away. Yeah she gets this cat without even asking me..All Peyton cares about is Peyton! , Cordelia had a high tolerance for bitching and she could take alot of it but nobody annoyed her quite like Lucas Scott. She wasn t like Angel who claimed all of the time, people don t just change out of nowhere,Cordelia..Something is gong on with him and he s my friend and that s something I don t take lightly . Cordelia had known that he was right. After all, She was a top model on a lot of the big, hit magazines Like Vogue. She was the It Girl when it came to famous female models and had just finished a Shoot at the Mall For a new line of Celebrity look alike Dolls..It was selling like hot-cakes. She could imagine having a little girl and buying her that..Sure, It went for $150.00 plus tax but they weren t hurting for money because she was a famous model and Angel still did jobs on the side for Angel investigations which because of Cordelia s name brought in mostly top notch, wealthy customers who paid in big stacks cash. They d even set up an account for their children as now a whopping $450.00 dollars was in the account. A good percent of it had come from Angel s like customer..A wealthy Daughter of a Rich multi-Billionaire had been possessed by a Typoskos Demon, Similiar to an Ethros Demon that he d fought before yet alot different..No box would sustain it. The demon had to be sent somewhere by means of magic..An old friend of Angels had helped on that case, He was a White-lighter which meant An Angel for witches or a guide. He and Leo Wyatt went way back. When he met Wyatt he d just accepted his duty as a white-lighter and Angel had helped him with a charge which helped him become the trustworthy and respectable Elder he was today. Angel knew that now Leo was married to one of his witches, Had 2 kids not to mention, one on the way and wasn t your typical elder, Meaning he didn t just stay up their in the existence of most other elders. Where they stayed wasn t really a place, Not a place you could plainly walk into anyway, It was much like the oracles or the white Room. It wasn t a place that existed on earth, It was out of sync with the world s own existence meaning it was complete other world in general. Like an Alternate universe or Dimension. But Leo had chosen to be a father and a husband first..Angel respected that. As he d chosen the same thing. Sure, he still helped the helpless yet when he did it was somewhere away from the house where he lived with his family. Sure, the victim usually knew who he was and what they were meeting for but they didn t meet in town because above all else he had to protect his family.

Angel had bought an old abandoned factory on the outskirts of Charlotte acouple of years back for such situations as this. He d been at the factory filled with nothing but dust and scattered rodents searching for food but it was a dark place which blocked out any source of the sun, Barely any windows to speak of. Just cold, Dark Brick that held the building together and a cold rocky passage that linked room to room. He d been their since noon while Cordelia had her first shoot of the day. He d thought it was amazing how girlish she d looked dressed in a pink and blue frilly dress and matching pink boots, her hair held up into elegant, high pony tale and decked out with enough rouge and lipstick to make her look twice as beautiful as she already was..Angel had recalled thinking that she looked just like the doll she was taking a shoot with. But Anyway, he d wished her good luck and she d left. Brooke had went with her as they planned to have a late lunch afterwards while the boys had went over to Haley and Nathan s for the day.

Angel and Cordelia felt fully confident in their trust of Haley and Nathan as they were good friends of there s, not to mention their boys hung out with Haley and Nathan s son. That s why it was so easy and acceptable for Angel and Cordelia to leave for the day and not have to worry much about the boys knowing they were in good hands.

The Second Leo had come in it was almost as if nothing had changed. Leo Wyatt looked no different now than he d looked years and years ago yet that was attributed to the fact that Leo was immortal; A white-lighter, Now An Elder. Just as Angel was sure that to Leo he looked no different as he too was immortal..A vampire with a soul. That had been the first thing Leo had said..his brown blonde hair waved just enough to make it look soft, his dark blue eyes gleamed with perfection and he wore light, passive colors. Colors of pastels and light. Seemed fitting for an Elder to wear. A beige tshirt which appeared formal, yet not. A pair of light blue jeans and beige tennis shoes that looked as if nobody had ever worn them before..Everything looked innocent and new when Leo wore it. Yet Leo Noticed how Angel didn t change at all either..Still sporting his black leather jacket and matching pants...Those dark black leather shoes that made him appear hidden in the night if he needed to be. His looks still Soft, what most girls would look at as handsome good looks, An expression that had always told Leo that Angel would be there in an instant when it came to saving a life. He knew when the world was in jeopardy and the sisters couldn t figure it out..He always knew that Angel could be trusted. He was unsure of what they would think of him,though. Especially Piper. After all they d wasted their time too many times on Demons or warlocks who d proven to destroy any trust they had for them. But he d make them understand that Angel was different. Yet in understanding that Angel was different they needed to also understand that part of him was to be feared and Angel made no mistakes about..That part of him was evil and soulless. That part of him was Angelus.

Leo s wide grin spread acrossed his lips the second he saw Angel as the two seemed to instantly connect not just because of what they had been brought together to do tonight but because they had a past together and were friends. Angel trusted Leo and knew that when Leo promised to do something he kept his word. Not because he all of a sudden was a family man or that he happened to be an angel. But simply because he had the power and heart of somebody who would do anything to protect the ones he loved. Their was nobody better than Leo when it came to being just what he was..An Angel. A white-lighter who would do anything he could to protect the people around him..That s why Angel trusted him now to do the right thing. He d never thought for one moment that Leo would ve just not showed up or said no to his call asking for help.

.. You look the same..Not a day older! , Angel smiled. He stepped closer to Leo knowing exactly why but he didn t say anything to point out what they already knew.., I m not the only one! . They both slightly laughed and then after a moment began into normal, Average small talk. The sisters..My wife included aren t going to be so understanding at first about You..Every demon/Warlock they ve trusted has betrayed them..One of them was even married to a warlock and he d proven not to be trustworthy so it s gonna take some time if are side ever meets . Angel nodded but with a cocky gleam added, Good thing I m none of them things . That much had put a smile on Leo s face. yet if anybody had passed by and seen them inside they would ve thought they were Criminals making trouble in the night as it wasn t as if the warehouse was a real lively, Normal place for two fathers, Two husbands to be at this hour not that it was really night time but being in this kind of place at any hour of the day would make people question the good they were doing. Besides, It was so dusty, So dingy there that if either of them breathed normal, human air they would ve been coughing constantly. Good thing they didn t have that problem,though.

Leo smiled as he handed Angel his billfold where their was 3 pictures..2 of his boys..A recent profession portrait taken of Wyatt to Mark turning 5 years old. The boy was cute..Dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He wore a blue hoodie with a picture of Stewie, The baby from Family Guy which was Wyatt s newest favorite tv show and their was ocean blue backdrop behind him. Then their was a picture of his 4 year old brother in a professional portrait yet the backdrop of his was more of a bright sea green. The boy was small, Even for a 4 year old with light brown hair and dark hazel eyes wearing a pair of Bibs with a blue shirt underneath, He held a spiderman doll in his arms. Their Cute..Wyatt looks so much like you! . Leo smiled as he showed angel a photo of him, Piper, Wyatt and Chris.

Angel just smiled.. Handsome family . He then pulled out his own billfold showing Leo first a photo of the twins..A portrait. The two sat with dark blonde hair and sensitive, soft blue eyes..Identical as far as looks went. they wore matching Bibs, while one wore a yellow shirt underneath, the other sported a green one. In the backdrop their was a bright yellow and blue wall with all kinds of trucks, cars and trains around them. Ethan and David , Angel showed Leo. Leo smiled. Wow..Twins! ..Angel smiled. To look at portraits and think about having twin boys was fun and kind of adorable but to be the father of twin boys was another thing as the two of them meant more trouble and you only had to turn your back once to realize how much trouble two 4 year olds could get into within a moments absence.

Angel then pulled out another picture..Another portrait photo of Connor this time. It was a navy blue backdrop. Connor sat there in the center of the photo his Light brown-Blonde hair brushed to perfection, HIs dark sensitive hazel eyes sparkling with excitement and delight. He wore a red hoody Sporting the Logo Iron Man As his hood was in dark blues, the exact replica of Ironman s mask. He wore blue jeans and shoes that matched his own shirt and in his arms he held an Iron Man doll. It was huge and it sang Iron Man by Black Sabbath. Not that Angel liked the music at all. He much preferred mellow music..Not boring but down easy listening. But that doll had gotten on his nerves as all he could hear when Connor played with it which was all of the time since Iron Man was his favorite thing in life was that stupid song. It was the type of Doll that would take any 5 year old child two hands to hold.

Leo smiled warmly.. Wow..He looks so much like you,Angel! It uncanny.. . Then angel showed him a family photo. They had taken it at the mall in the toy store and it had turned out beautiful. Cordelia had dressed in one of her warmest and most beautiful outfits. It was a purple blouse with rhinestones and a matching glittery skirt that swayed down to her knees and made her look like it was yet another shoot she was doing. Angel wore his normal ensemble. Just because he had a family didn t mean the blacks and blues went away..It was his signature color, he believed. He held Connor in his arms..the boy wore a pair of blue jeans and a black tshirt with yet again Iron man on the front and his logo on the back. His hair had been brushed so perfectly that not a strand was out of place..Looked more like a perfect model family and not a normal family photo. While the twins stood in between him and Cordelia..Both looking perfect yet this time in different clothes. Ethan wore a red hooding with Santa Clause on the front and a white ho,ho,ho on the back with velvet looking pants and and his white velcrose tennis shoes that lit up when he walked, While his twin brother David wore a navy blue tshirt with a cute puppy on the front and blue jeans and white and blue velcrose tennis shoes. Their blue eyes were bright and happy as they smiled..their dark blonde hair was combed perfectly looking like somebody had taken hours for them to sit still and let them make them look like what a child models looked like. Not that cordelia hadn t thought of that angle as most people fell in love with twins of any kind but Angel had wanted their kids have a happy normal childhood, Not a job. In the background their was all the excitement of the toy store..that alone had made all 3 boys smile in glee.

After a while the conversation had begun to turn dark. I fear that we re invetiably going to join sides because I don t know about you but something is coming..I can feel it..Piper can feel it too and the others aren t saying anything but I can sense that they can feel it the same but I m not going to sound off the alarm until something major happens..So far there s just hints and warnings..Nothing solid. But it s coming, I know it is.. , Angel wanted to stand there and lie. To say that he didn t feel it. That he didn t sense that something ominously evil was coming and it was inevitable..Sooner or later he d be forced to go back to the hyperion as the fate of the world would depend on it but much like Leo he wasn t willing to sound off the alarms until something happened that forced him to worry about the safety of his family..It was coming. He could feel it. But until that happened he d stay quiet and allow himself to live a lie. Wasn t that what people wanted to do..Bury their head in the sand and pretend that the world wasn t being torn apart, again. But like Leo had said..their was something bad coming and he wasn t niave..he was ready for it..He was prepared..He knew cordelia was too..Just as he knew that Leo was as well. But he seriously had no clue as to how prepared the people he hadn t seen for years were dealing or if they even knew what was coming. He d thought about getting a hold of Buffy..Giles,even. But he reconsidered thinking that until their was alarm to panic he shouldn t get them worried,too. but if there was one person that should know..It was Buffy..Afterall, she was the slayer.

The Possessed girl stood in the center of the salted circle..her flowing long,Crimson hair fell down just above her waste..Dark green eyes that clouded over with sinister darkness. If she would ve been Holly Stratton her eyes would ve been that dark shade of green..But now her eyes were as black as tar, her flesh as white a snow with a sinister sneer that told all who could see this being wasn t human, wasn t human at all.

.. So how s the reunion going Boys! ..She canted in vicious Delight. The thing that resided in the innocent girls body wasn t bothered at all by being trapped. She found enough pleasure in the torment that she was bringing to both her heroes faces. That right there was enough chaos to last her for days. But it didn t bother angel, nor Did it bother Leo. Leo was used to dealing with monsters and darkness as Angel was,too and he was prepared for what it took to release the demon from the host. Most would have to do an exorcism but for this kind of demon it simply wouldn t work. The last person who d tried had been Tobias Timmons . Tobias Timmons wasn t a newcomer to the Occult, nor had he been new to excorcising Demons. His wife and Children had been murdered right in front of him by a pure hell-spawn demon and he d become a hunter devoting his life to helping people and getting back at the evil thing that had taken out his world. Angel had learned all he could about Tobias. The people he hung around with..Phone calls he d received up until his death..there d been a message from a familiar voice on his phone belonged to a John Winchester .. Toby you can t exercise this demon it ll destroy you..When you get this call me..It s important! . All Angel could think of was that he d received the message much too late. Yet that name seemed to ring a bell with angel.. Winchester ..But he just couldn t place where he d seen or heard of this man..It wasn t exactly the most odd name in the world so maybe it was just coincidence, he thought.

Angel had learned long ago to ignore anything an evil possessed demon said and that nothing mattered except destroying that demon and restoring who that person really was. He felt sorry for Tobias Timmons who d been unprepared and had lost his life because of it, Had hoped that the familiar voice on the phone could ve gotten to him sooner before he d realized he was going to die. But sadly, their was nothing that could be done about it now. Angel smiled back at Leo. Leo handed him a piece of paper..It had a spell written on it..Leo held a glass vial of some kind of potion colored Red..Wasn t everything always Red..Spike had always thought that everything was just that..Red for Blood. But then again, sense when did he ever listen to a word that spike said, Even though lately he d started to see spike in a different light..Started to see his soul. Yet again if anyone ever spoke this to spike..he d deny it.

Moments later He gazed down at the sheet of paper as he scanned the words he was supposed to say as once he was ready he d chant the spell. He was no stranger to spells and magic. He could do his fair share of both not that he was a master warlock or sorcerer of any kind but he d been around a very long time and knew how to do allot of things..Some for survival, others on instinct. The know how of Spells and Magic had been a survival thing.

Dark spirit release thy Soul Release and depart and leave this spirit behind Let the power of light shine down upon you Let they power of light guide the clean spirit to freedom Let the Evil Depart Let the evil Depart

To Angel it didn t sound much like a spell although this wasn t truly dark magics. It was White magics. He d never heard of White Magics to cancel out a dark energy such as this but the sisters weren t just known because of Leo..They were the charmed ones and he d heard of them and trusted that this spell would do good. But he knew that the real power was in the potion.

So he said it..Said it with as much power and belief as saying anything would give anybody..Leo stood beside him as he threw the potion at the innocent girl lost in demonic reverie and moments after the glass had broken and the spell had been completed a big splash of bright blight had shimmered over the salted circle and the once demonically possessed girl fell to the ground..Her once black eyes reverted to Green as she looked around, Panicked and alone.

It hadn t taken long for Leo to convince her that this was perfectly normal..He d taken her hand and a beautiful blue orbed light carried the two of them away leaving angel left alone in the dark, musty warehouse free to go home..It was nearing 5:30 now..Cordelia would be home with Tonight s takeout Menu whether it be Indian food or Hamburgers..Maybe even Tacos. It didn t matter to him as long as he had a nice tall mug of blood in the fridge.

Seconds later angel stepped out of the door, It was moments before Rain began to pour by the buckets full. He slid into the black convertible and sped down the highway headed away from Charlotte to Tree hill, Headed for home.

#4

It was the biggest rainstorm they d seen in a long time. It was raining so hard you couldn t see your hand in front of your face yet it was a summer rain so mostly the kids wanted to be outside, jumping through mud puddles and screaming in delight. yet like alot of other times Haley had expressed clearly that they weren t going to get what they wanted as outside in a rainstorm where their was thunder and lightening..That was no place for children. Besides, Jamie had just gotten over a cold..The last thing he needed to do was go out and play in the rain. Today Haley and Nathan were watching Connor, Ethan, and David for their friends. Cordelia had to go to some kind of party which was an obligation because she was a Vogues 'It Girl and Angel and Nathan had went to New York City to See Lucas. The only remark Haley had to that was that they d come back dissapointed. It was obvious that Lucas wasn t the same boy she knew and she wasn t a fool. She knew there was more to the story but Lucas was Lucas. If he didn t want to share his tragedy, He wouldn t. And obviously he wasn t ready or he would ve said something. Why he d turned into this disrespectful, Mean kind of person was beyond her,though.

But she wasn t completely alone. Karen and Dan were over. Dan actually had started to grow on her. Sure, he was still Dan Scott, Nothing would ever change that. But it was almost at times like Karen brought out the good in Dan and Deb had brought out the bad. But Dan still made his mean comments..Still was an ass. She supposed he was simply just a more tolerable Ass. Ofcourse their five year old daughter Lily nor her 4 year old brother, Sam were in sight. Karen had left them with her parents for the weekend. Parents that lived nearly a whole day s ride away, Parents that not even Lucas had seen very much of growing up. Haley was saddened to hear that the two weren t around..She admired how much Lily was a little Karen with her dark hair down below her shoulders, Dark brown eyes and a sassy way she looked at life. While Sam looked like what Haley figured Dan had looked like as a child..Keith had even attested that she was right about that. his soft brown hair and dark blue eyes were testament that he was a Scott. While he wasn t into basketball and obviously that was okay. Haley doubted that would last too long..once he reached his pre-teens he d be playing basketball. He was Dan Scott s son after all.

They were sitting at the kitchen table in Haley and Nathan s house. Karen was raving about some horrid nightmare she d had last night, A nightmare so close to what Haley had had when she d been in her supposed coma that it was almost mind boggling, They were sharing theories as Haley explain what she d seen as well. Dan Claimed he didn t have nightmares but it was obvious that Karen didn t believe him but she d never embarrass him in front of anybody..especially to say in front of Haley that he was lying. Karen could cold, she could even be feisty..But she wasn t Heartless and this wasn t an assenine pointless situation, This was the difference between life and death. In her nightmare, Karen had believed that she was dying..That her life was over. She d seen Lucas as a child..he was in the deep, dark water..he was drowning. Drowning and she couldn t do anything. All she could see was this dark figure hovering over her son..his eyes the color of shaded and dark sapphire..his blood-red lips shaping the expression of pure evil..Dark hair..Jet black that could make anybody s blood run cold and this darkness, this evil had her son. She feared it was an omen. That this beast already had her son and that the Lucas that everyone saw nothing but a demon..A monster in-disguised. Of course Dan had thought that she needed to see a shrink..Told her that their son wasn t a demon. Just an ass - hole! ..he d added as if being ass was the cure to the situation at hand. Karen had mostly ignore him knowing he was masking his worry with being an ass. But today he said nothing. He didn t believe that Lucas wasn t Lucas..That was crazy. But he did believe that something was lurking over Lucas..Something sinister and evil. Maybe it was the dreams themselves, he considered that theory.

It was nearly 9:30 at night and Haley had tucked all of them into bed. Brought three cots from the basement for the three boys to sleep on as they all slept in Jamie s room. Most times they were here for the night she d hear nothing but chatter when she left their room as they would sit up half the night giggling and telling ghost stories which would innitially scare the twins the next day as they were younger yet all four of them feared the same things. What the adults didn t realize was that the dreams; The nightmares that haunted them haunted their children and maybe in a sense what haunted the children was more pure than any evil one person could ever imagine as it was seen through the eyes of pure innocence.

The last time they were all 4 together they d had to go on a hunt to find Chester, Jamie s pet Rabbit as all four of them were playing in the backyard with Chester as they d camped out. By some surprise the neighbor acrossed the street brought the rabbit over as Chester had wandered into their garden. But the last time Haley had checked all 4 of them were sound asleep, even after watching a scary movie, that was a shock. She hoped none of them had bad dreams.

.. You re one of the most Bravest people I know Haley..Taking the three of them like that. I know how much trouble three rambunctious boys can be, I raised one! , Haley had just smiled in reply. We re friends and besides, they ve watched Jamie when we ve needed to get away too . Haley s explanation put a smile to Karen s face. Karen had easily gotten to know Angel and Cordelia and while Cordelia was a bit self centered and hard to get to know she d found that Angel irregardless of the life he d come from was much more easier to know and befriend than Cordelia was. Not that she had a problem with Cordelia at all. It was just the fact of knowing that she had a better connection with Angel.

Ofcourse she didn t believe that the men would come back with good news either. Lucas couldn t be saved anymore right now than the possessed girl in the exorcist could in the middle of the movie..Karen didn t want to believe such things. She d never been super-religious..But this just seemed wrong to believe that such things as demons and possessions could exist, yet she believed In Vampires. She knew that that s what Angel was but seeing was believing and she d seen plenty from his side. But If he was real, The latter had to be real too, didn t it?

Dan had been alittle antzy talking about Lucas as if he wasn t really Lucas. she knew that Dan didn t believe in that stuff even though like her they believed, accepted, respected and cared for Angel. Somehow the concept of Demons and hell appeared outlandish and simply impossible as they hadn t seen it with their own two eyes and believing that it could happen to their own son: that was another thing.

Of course, Karen did believe in heaven and hell, especially heaven. She d had a past life where she hadn t been exactly the Karen Rowe that most people had pegged her as and it hadn t always been about her a Scott Man . Once She d loved A man named Castiel . He wasn t really a man, But an angel. She knew that if anybody were to hear her talk they d think she d gone out of her mind. But Karen had more skeletons in her closet than one and when you entered Cas into the oquation a whole other door laid in waiting.

Ofcourse when they all found out that she had two children that she hadn t seen for a long time she didn t know what would happen. Back then it didn t have anything to do with Dan but Now it did. The only one who knew the truth was Keith and she and Keith had stopped being friends or showing any respect for each other years ago.

She d told Keith that if he let it slip that he knew anything or what he knew he d wish he never met her. With Keith getting drunk all the time now she was extra worried about him slipping up and saying something he was drunk but so far so good. But lately other things bothered her more than a secret romance and two little boys she hadn t seen for so long..Her dreams made her worry more about her future and the fate of the world..Not to mention her fear for Lucas safety because deep down she really believed that that mean, Cruel Bastard was not her son. He was a demon, A monster in disguise.

Of course Dan had just as many nightmares as she had, What about? she had no clue. Dan hadn t been as apt to share his horrifying nightmares as she was. He was quiet about it..made some Assenine joke to cover up the horror of what he d seen, Make Karen want to smack him hard and then it would forgotten. But she hadn t forgotten entirely and neither had he. It was the fact that something was out their, something evil that hunted and lurked..that may have been watching them at this very second. But it wasn t just about them either it was about the one thing they all held dear, their children. If their was anything they had that was pure and innocent it was their kids.

Haley had grasped that knowledge too. She d grasped that knowledge every time she closed her eyes and was painfully dragged into yet another horrifying episode of darkness and pain. She hadn t been completely honest with Nathan about how severe, How Real the nightmares truly felt but he knew she was having them. But she d told him, Maybe it had been a lie or maybe it had just been her way of sparing him the details..she d told him that because she hadn t had another spell of going into a coma that the dreams were better. As if that proved alone that they were just nightmares after all but more recently she d began to wander if he was starting to not believe her lies. She d found him sitting their in bed times after he d asked about her nightmares and she d forced another lie..he d just sit there and stare at her as if to say.. I know your not being honest with me Hales . She couldn t fault him for eventually being mad at her. She was laying straight to his face and obviously, she seemed to be a pro at it for she d done a dozen times since her Coma incident but she d thought maybe foolishly, The end justifies everything, doesn t it ? But the real truth was that she didn t want to know the answer because the answer was something more darker, More sinister than Anything Haley James Scott had ever come face to face with. Not even in their greatest nightmares they could dream something up as horrifying and Paralyzing as what they were now forced up against.

But it was getting late. The rain had started to let up alittle as suddenly all that could be hear Soft, Light drops of rain. More the sounds of a sprinkling spring rain yet thunder and Lightening still Boomed and flashed threateningly in the night sky. Haley didn t know why she considered the Thunder and Lightening to feel so threatening but she did. It was almost as if the storm was an omen pointing to a dark time that would destroy the world..But that was crazy talk, wasn t it?

Karen had thanked Haley for Dinner and letting them stay so late and talk..Dan had been mostly quiet had residing in his straight posture with a cocky smirk. An expression that had always appeared to be Dan Scott through and through. But their was something beyond those eyes. On a night like tonight Haley had felt that their was something between her and Dan..Something that connected them. Not as family or somebody that she d despised through the years but it felt dark and foreboding as if he had secrets,too and maybe in their dreams he d seen some of the most nastiest things..Maybe they understood that part of life. The part where something nasty was coming and their was nothing anybody could do to stop it. They all understood that to some extent as that s why Angel and Nathan had decided to go to New York and help Lucas. They wanted Lucas on their side, they wanted to help him in anyway that they could because something bad was coming and Angel was concerned and thought that maybe something dark had already found Lucas Scott.

The moment Keith and Karen stepped out, the house took on a gloomy, nightmarish glow. Haley was all alone in the house and hours later, maybe even after midnight she d lay their in bed moaning and crying. Tossing and turning in her and Nathan s bed begging for the terror to stop..Begging to be awakened so that the horror of the nightmare could not destroy her. On some level she understand that this was just a nightmare..Nothing more. She also knew that nothing could hurt her in her dreams. But lately Haley had been reevaluating what she believed could or couldn t happen while her eyes were closed and she was fast asleep. Before she wouldn t have believed that a simple nightmare could make her go into a coma but it had happened. The doctors had been clueless and hadn t known what had really happened. But the nightmare was so strong and should they all just bury their heads in the sand and pretend to not see that all of them were having the same, terrifying nightmares..Not just her and Nathan..Yes,Nathan. He wouldn t admit it but she d been awakened to hear him calling out in distress, in horror. But when she d asked him he d lied.. My worst nightmare is losing you hales . But his comment had just been mask to hide the fact that he d been having the same hopeless, terrifying nightmares as she. Just as Karen and Dan were having the same problems and she knew that Angel and Cordelia were having the same ones. she wasn t too sure about Mouth or Skills. None of them had spoken to them in weeks as they d went on a joyride trip and wouldn t be back for at least a month as they wanted to travel and see some of the world..Well the parts that you could see by traveling by car.

She knew that Nathan and Angel would be back sometime in the morning yet that Cordelia would be over after breakfast to pick up the boys. of course Haley had told her that she didn t need to rush, That she had things under control and that Jamie loved it when the three of them spent the night. It was amazing and wonderful how the four of them had taken to each other so quickly and had become such good friends.

But Cordelia didn t want to be a bother and it was asking too much already to have them take their kids all day yesterday and keeping them for the night as well. Besides, Cordelia kind of missed them and wanted them back as soon as possible. Had thought about them going on a picnic. Even though Angel didn t want to misuse the gem of amarra which allowed him to walk in the sunlight and be virtually indestructible a peaceful happy picnic was both fun for him, and the boys and Cordelia. Although he wasn t sure if it was safe for cordelia to be out and about so much now that she was pregnant. it was different before when she was barely showing and she d go for a shoot. Nobody knew. But now that people knew that she was pregnant she was on maternity leave accept for a shoot she d done yesterday which had been a favor she d done for a parent and pregnancy magazine. they d wanted her to be the new face of Celebrity Moms. The twins had been excited enough for all of them because that meant Toys galore from a fancy toy store in New York city.

Haley was so happy for her that she had made a name out of her modeling career. Haley had found herself thinking allot lately about going back into her music career. Not touring or anything Lavish like that. She d remembered what had happened the last time she d went on tour. Sure, she d been a kid and screwed up badly with her and Nathan but she couldn t imagine waking up and not being able to see Nathan..To see Jamie. Anymore she really loved the fact that the boys came over and she envied cordelia. She hadn t told Nathan yet but she was considering having another child. She d seen how happy it made Jamie to have another kid around to play with. She d never seen her son more happy than when the 3 boys were over and they could play and giggle until bedtime.

Haley Yawned feeling that the night was taking it s toll on her. Even though she wanted nothing more than to go to bed and let the night end she knew why she was stalling. she didn t want to face the world she was forced into the moment she closed her eyes. But sleep was inevitable and eventually she d be dragged into it whether she liked it or not.

a moment later she stumbled up the stairs and into her bedroom shutting the door behind her and moments after she crawled into her and nathan s king-sized bed draped in a pastel purple comforter and pillows she was ripped out of the world she existed in and was dragged kicking and screaming into the world of nightmares and horrors..The world she d do anything to escape.


End file.
